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=Bits^— ^ 
of Old Mexico 



By JAMES A. WILSON 

San Francisco - - California 



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No. 



To.. 



Compliments of 



Copyrighted 1910, by James A. Wilson 
San Francisco, Cal. 



ICI.A2r,ir.35 




Reading from left to right — ''Dick." "Billie," ''Jim" "George' 



Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive 
in 2010 witii funding from 
Tine Library of Congress 



Iittp://www.arcliive.org/details/bitsofoldmexico01wils 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 



BY JAMES A. WILSON 



In a moment of absent-mindedness, I said. "Yes, 
I'll go," and the result of that "yes" was a trip to 
Mexico. 

We had been discussing the rubber question and 
its possibilities. I had agreed to take an interest in a 
plantation but said Missourian-like, "Show me," and 
the agreement to visit Mexico and this particular 
plantation was an assured fact before we left the 
lunch table. 

It took us about a week to get ready and on the 
24th of February started for the land of manana and 
the home of quein sabe. 

The run to El Paso had its moments of interest, 
but as this is a trip to Mexico, I will forget every- 
thing else for the present. 

Eleven a. m. Sunday, February 28th, found us on 
the bridge connecting El Paso and Juarez, or the 
United States and Mexico, and incidentally in the 
hands of the custom officers. 

I have mentioned "us" and "we" a number of 
times and as we are about to enter a foreign country 



2 BITS OP OLD MEXICO 

the party had better be identified, so, for con- 
venienee sake. I will name them Diek. Rillie. George 
and Jim, th»* latter beinp represented by myself at 
meal time and other important functions. 

Tlie ilay was hot and we were comfortably warm; 
a (Irawiiijr r()(»ni protected us some from the heat and 
didn't hurt with the inspectors. 

After leavinp: the l)ridf?e, the train stopped at 
Juarez where trunks were inspected and an opportun- 
ity offered to chanjje your money from American to 
]Mexican at the rate of two I\Iexican for one American. 
This jrives a person a sense of wealth and you wonder 
why people don't t?o to that country where they will 
have just twice as ranch as at home. 

Tlie whistle blcAv about noon time and we were off 
for the City of Mexico. 

The .iouniey was made without event. Our stops 
were short, the country uninviting, and the natives 
more so, but of this later. The engrineer and our de- 
sires seemed to be as one in jtrettin? as quickly as 
possible to the City of Mexico, and when the colored 
jrentleraan ordered us to stand up and fjet "brushed 
down" we knew we were gettins: close to the bejjin- 
ninp of our trip. 

We pulled into the station promptly on time at 8 
p. m. and after the usual fussing about getting bag- 
gage started right, took carriages and drove out 
through the gates, getting tabbed by some soldiers as 
we did so. They qrot the hotel we were going to and 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 3 

the number of pieces of bagfgage, and, I suppose, at the 
end wrote down Gringos, four. 

We had arranged to stop at the St. Francis, and 
accordingly, proceeded to get there as soon as free. A 
luirried wash, a bite to eat, and we were out and tak- 
ing our first walk in the City of Mexico. 

Leaving the hotel and turning to the left from 
the bronze statue of Charles IV of Spain, walking 
about two blocks on a wide street of residences and 
stores, you arrive at the Alameda or plaza. The street 
here is wide for about two blocks, with stores on the 
right. At the end of the Alameda the street narrows 
and becomes the Calle de San Francisco which extends 
to the Plaza Mayor, or main square in the center of 
the city from which point all cars start and all trips 
finish. 

Standing in the square, one, in imagination, can 
see startling events in the history of Mexico — the 
coming of the Toltics in the seventh century, replacing 
a former race and establishing a system of government, 
devoting themselves to war largely, but finding suffi- 
cient time to cultivate the soil, erect great temples and 
cities, study science and art and gradually disappear, 
it is thought, through famine, pestilence and war; but 
their four centuries of occupation, it is suggested, left 
the ruins of Palenque Mitla and other wonders of 
building genius. 

The coming and going of different tribes followed, 
with more or less advance in civilization, till we see 
the Aztecs, or Mexicans, arrive, wandering around, 
bossing some other tribe one day and becoming slaves 



4 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

tlie next, so to spt'ak. till we find a band of them 
wandering on the borders of a lake looking for a new 
L-ampiu',' place. One of the old leaders spied a golden 
eagle perched on the stem of a prickly pear with a 
snake, or serpent in its talons, and being tired, pro- 
nounced this a good omen, and informed his friends 
that this was tiie promised land. This happened in 
1825. and they called the place Tenoehtitlan. This 
was the beginning of the City of Mexico. 

Wars with other tribes, conquests, peace and pros- 
perity brought civilization, and they established king- 
doms and royalty, pomp and ceremony of a truly pa- 
gan character. All this we see passing before the 
minds eye in the preparation for the coming of Cortez. 
Wt,' see him land and fight his way, conquering or 
gaining allies from Vera Cruz to the Citj'^ of Mexico. 
\\'hieh he entered on the 8th of November, 1519. We 
see his meeting with Montezuma, his stay and expul- 
sion on July 1st. 1520. "la noche triste," or dismal 
night, his flight and reinforcement from Cuba, and 
his final triumi)hal entry into the City of Mexico, 
August 13th, 1521. the falling of the temples and the 
erection of Christian churches, the rule of the vice- 
roys, the revolution, the empire, the republic, the 
Mexican war. the capture of the city by the United 
States' forces on the 15th of September. 1847, the 
treaty of peace, the entry of the French soldiers on 
June 9th. 1863, and the crowning of Maximilian em- 
peror, June 12th. 1804; the United States telling Na- 
poleon that they wouldn't stand for the king busi- 
ness; the Mexicans getting up another revolution. 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

and taking Max and a couple of his generals out and 
shooting them; General Diaz capturing the city June 
21st, and Juarez made president of Mexico, entering 
the city July 25th, 1867. 

We see many other scraps in different parts of 
Mexico — that of Oaxaca in January, 1876, when Gen- 
eral Diaz took the field and everything else he could 
lay his hands on, and finally, take the city November 
24th, 1876, and hold it and the office of president ever 
since with the exception of one term of four years. 

I stood reviewing all these things mentally and 
was finally brought back to the present by Billie an- 
nouncing that he intended going to the museum in 
the morning to examine the Aztec calendar. Billie is 
a scientist among other things. George wanted to 
take in the churches and cemeteries. He is serious- 
minded. Dick was agreeable for anything but sug- 
gested that wood-work was his long suit, and as the 
best samples of cabinet-work could be found in the 
Cantina we should look over this branch of the Mexi- 
can exhibit first. We adjourned immediately to the 
first we found to compare the cabinet-work in the 
Mexican Cantina M'ith the bar fixtures of a California 
saloon. 

The following morning saw us up and ready for 
sight-seeing. Our first visit was to the museum to 
satisfy Billie. We hired a guide who spoke English 
fluently and charged us in both languages plentifully. 
He took us direct to the Aztec Calendar, as per Billie 's 
desire, and informed us that it was originally in the 
great temple Tenochtitlan, and after it was destroyed, 



b BITS OP OLD MEXICO 

the stone was left on the ground in the square, and 
whon the Christians built the Cathedral, it was placed 
in the West tower from which place it was removed to 
the museum in 1886. It weighed originally nearly 
sixty tons; that it took five thousand men to bring it 
from the quarry in 1478 to the city; that it showed 
the seasons, the months and the daj^s. It certainly 
looked the age and its weight could hardly be doubted. 
Its carvings, strange in character, were on a round 
dial. 

Billie examined it very critically, but seemed to 
think it would do. George said he thought there must 
be some religious significance attached to the charac- 
ters on the stone that was not understood, and Dick 
and I took the guide's w^ord for it. The sacrificial 
stone next attracted our attention. The guide in- 
formed us that it came out of the great temple that 
stood on this square and M'^as companion to the calen- 
dar stone. It was about the same size, and circular, 
was carved all around the sides and on the flat sur- 
face of the top, had a hole cut in the center from 
which ran a chase which the guide told us was for the 
burning of the hearts and carrying off the blood of 
the victims. This stone was found near the Cathedral 
in 1791, and was about to be broken up because it 
could not be moved conveniently, when some one 
thought to save it as a curio. 

A colossal head of stone was next pointed out. It 
was dug up from one of the streets in 1830. It is 
three feet high and two feet through the neck, and is 
supposed to be as old as the Calendar stone. It looks 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 7 

all right for a sphinx, and Billie is going to look the 
matter up. The God of War, Huitzilopochtli, is a cor- 
ker, as his name would imply. He stands about ten 
feet high and three feet thick. He has two faces and 
a lot of carving ; two hands stand out from the sides of 
the face like the pose that the typical Jew assumes, 
when he says, "So help me." The guide was silent 
about this. 

The goddess of water, a monolith eleven feet high 
and five feet across and weighing about 40,000 pounds, 
has been pretty badly knocked about, and looked as 
if she was on the bargain counter. 

Dick couldn't stand for the goddess. He sug- 
gested that we leave the water question in abeyance 
and find out what the Aztec took before it. So after 
looking over a few more of the unsolved problems we 
took Billie away from the calendar stone, where we 
found him taking measurements, and picking up 
George who was absorbed in a part of the Palenque 
Cross that had just been brought from the ruins, we 
had the guide take us to a place where the goddess of 
water was only in evidence as a chaser. 

The Monte de Piedad, or National pawn shop, was 
the next place to visit. This is an institution that 
could be imitated in other countries and not hurt. It 
was started in 1776 to protect people from the pawn- 
brokers that then existed. It was approved by the 
crown, though run by an individual. No interest was 
charged, but the party redeeming a pledge was sup- 
posed to give something to charity, but as people 
pledging their jewelry or clothes were hardly in a 



8 BITS OP OLD MEXICO 

giving mood when they redeemed their pledge, in- 
terest was charged and the Government took hold of 
it. You pawn your diamonds today, and interest 
is charged monthly. While you pay your goods are 
safe and unexposed, but when you fail, your pledge 
is placed on sale at a value fixed by the authorities, 
and should the article be purchased by some one and 
the price paid be more than the money advanced and 
interest, the person pledging the article will be paid 
the difference. Should it not be sold at an appraised 
value in one month after exposure, the price is re- 
duced, and so on month after month, until it is brought 
down to the amount advanced and interest. Then it is 
allowed to stand until sold. This place is also on the 
main plaza, nearly opposite the Cathedral and is visit- 
ed by a miscellaneous collection of people about as 
interesting as are the pledges. We all bought some- 
thing to make believe we were shopping. I rescued 
an English sovereign of George III; some patriot had 
worn it as a scarf pin. and it was as good as when 
it came out of the mint. I bought it and brought it 
back to the United States, for though George III was 
not on friendly terms with us during his lifetime, yet I 
thought lie would feel more at home in San Francisco 
than in a pawn-shop in the City of Mexico. 

George bought a small crucifix. Billie an old sand- 
glass to learn if time was measured in Mexico as it is 
at home. Dick did not buy but he went through 
the back rooms and examined the furniture that had 
been pledged or manufactured for sale and gave us a 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 9 

correspondence course in cabinet work, dove-tailing, 
veneering and grafting. 

This National pawn shop was very interesting, 
but the most pathetic thing in the whole business was 
the life-sized model of Jesus for sale; and while I am 
not a special advocate of any parteular line of how to 
get there, I felt that I ought to pay the price and get 
the image of the lowly Nazarene out of such bad com- 
pany. The only reason, I suppose, that restrained me 
was the thought that he was sold into bad company 
once before for a few pieces of silver (this model was 
actually placed for sale with a lot of furniture and 
in full view of every visitor). 

From the pawn shop to the thieves' market was 
but a short walk across the great plaza. I understood 
you could buy an article at one gate and on going 
out at another, the same article would be presented to 
you for sale, some kind pickpocket in the meantime 
having helped himself to your purchase. It may all 
be true, but as I did not buy, I cannot verify the state- 
ment. The place impressed me as a second-hand junk 
shop. Everything was old and rusty and consisted of 
a miscellaneous collection of machettes, stilettos, and 
other murderous looking weapons. Billie made a 
trade with a dealer in copper coins and bought a sack 
full because he noticed a few that he thought were 
ancient, and when he came to look them over the 
particularly interesting ones were not visible, so per- 
haps the market is well named. However, he bought 
a shell, something like abalone, with a painting of a 
boat landing, done in a very crude manner. I could 



10 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

not understand what the dealer was trying to make 
Billie believe, but I think he was selling it for the 
landing of Cortez. Anyhow, it was rolled up in an 
old newspaper, and Billie was exceedingly proud when 
on opening the paper at the hotel he found the shell 
was actually with him, and got off a nearly joke by 
saying that it was the first time that he had beaten 
the shell game. The Thieves Market at one time oc- 
cupied the main plaza, but was banished when the 
scpiare was cleared of all markets, and while I have 
mentioned this square, I will note a few of the things 
about it that are interesting. It is known as the Plaza 
-Mayor de la Consitiucion. It is the center of the city 
and the place where the great temple of the Aztecs 
once stood, and wdiere now- stands the Cathedral. 

The square w^as used for three years after the 
Christian occupancy as a market place and was filled 
with booths of all characters, but it seems to have 
been burned down about 1611. The Cathedral is at 
one end of the Plaza, and at other points are located 
the National Palace, the Portales, stores with portals 
extending to the street line over the sidewalk. A 
small park and a band-stand opposite the Cathedral, 
a pretty flower market at another point where the 
most artistic flower pieces for funerals are made and 
sold, and not only for funerals but for occasions of a 
much livelier character. 

I could see that George was becoming worried 
about something and soon found out that he thought 
we were neglecting the churches w^hich he had special 
instructions from home to visit, whether for worship 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 11 

or inspection lie did not say, but we complied with his 
request and visited the Cathedral on the main square. 

The Cathedral is old and good-looking and occu- 
pies the site of an Aztec temple said to have been the 
greatest pagan place of worship on the continent. 

THE CATHEDRAL. 

The first Christian church on the present site was 
built about three years after the conquest. The cor- 
ner stone of the present Cathedral was laid in 1573, 
the first service was held in 1626 and finally dedicated 
on the 2nd of February, 1667. The total cost was over 
$2,000,000 at the then time price of things. It was 
over 400 feet long. The inside measures 387x177 feet, 
from roof to floor, 179 feet. The towers are 203 feet 
high. The walls and towers are of stone and the roof 
brick arches and cement. The south front is richlv 
ornamented with carvings and statues of saints and 
great men in church history. Here are some of the 
things the guide told us about and to which I listened 
with great interest, second only to that of George, 
who was so intent on acquiring church history that he 
found out the names of the saints to whom the four- 
teen chapels are dedicated. The most noted one is 
that of San Felipe de Jusus. Some of the relics of this 
saint are preserved here; among them is the font in 
which he was baptized. In this chapel are the remains 
of IVIexico's first emperor, Augustin Yturbide. 

In the chapel of San Pedro lies the remains of the 
first Archbishop of Mexico and Gregorio Lopez, the 



12 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

Mexican inaii with the iron mask, said to be a son of 
IMiilip the second of Spain. 

The choir and the j^reat ory^aus are raised up 
from the main floor, and in the rear of the choir, is the 
altar of pardon, in front of which numbers of people 
uf all conditions were kneeling. The main altar was 
built in 1850. The altar of the kings is said to be the 
best in the buildin<j:, and beneath it are buried the 
heads of the patriots Hidalgo. Allende, Aldama and 
Jimenez, brought from Guanajuato in state after the 
independence. The statues and paintings in manj' 
parts of the Cathedral are by celebrated artists, and 
altogether it is a wonder in its size and grandeur. 
Billie wanted to argue with George about the accuracy 
of measurements and history, but George would not 
argue, so we agreed that all we heard was correct. 
Dick mentioned the fact that the Cantina had many 
relics in the shape of pohiue cerveza and aquadente. 
and we immediately proceeded to investigate the liquid 
spirits of old Mexico. 

NATIONAL PALACE. 

The National Palace on the east side of the Plaza 
^layor is the capital proper, where the senate meets 
and the executive offices are located. It is on the site 
once occupied by Cortez, and before him by Montezu- 
ma. The present building was begun in 1692 and has 
been added to since, and at the present time occupies 
the full length of the east side of the square, 675 feet, 
and about tlie same distance down the side streets. 
It has an immense courtyard or patio inside, and the 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 13 

best soldiers are stationed at this point; at least, they 
struck me as being the best. I don't know how good 
they are in the fighting line, but one thing I must say: 
their band was good, as are all military bands in 
Mexico. 

This palace has what is known as the Hall of Am- 
bassadors. It might be called the National Picture 
Gallery, for paintings of the celebrities in Mexican 
history here are hung. It is really well worth visiting, 
and one of the things of special interest in the palace, 
or, rather on it, is the old bell from the Church of 
Dolores near San Miguel de Allende. This is the bell 
that Hidalgo rung on the 16th of September, 1810, 
calling the Mexicans to arms in the cause of liberty. 
The people hearing the bell did not know all that it 
meant, but some were on, as we say. The hour was 
late (11:40 p. m.), but Father Hidalgo had all arrang- 
ed and with the celebrated miracle picture of Guadal- 
upe as a banner, started out for the liberty and inde- 
pendence of Mexico. This liberty bell was installed 
in its present place on the 16th of September, 1896, 
and was rung at the hour that Father Hidalgo rung it 
in 1810, and I understand it has become a custom of the 
president to ring it annually at 11:40 on the night of 
the call to arms. This bell hangs in front and over the 
main entrance to the palace. 

The Palace of Yturbide, which is now a hotel, was 
visited next, principally, I think, on the suggestion of 
Dick, who must have had inside information on liquid- 
ation, for before we could get a chance to form an 
opinion on the residence of a once king, he had us in a 



14 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

modern-looking, thirst-destroying station, asking us 
what we would have. We took our medicine; Dick 
settled for the prescription and "we looked the building 
over on account of its associations. It covers quite 
a piece of ground, and has entrances from different 
streets. Its principal one is on 1st San Francisco street. 
It is of stone and has the usual court or patio. It 
was built in the 18th century and has been a hotel 
since 1855. The king was put to death by the natives 
in 1824 by being shot. Billie wanted to argue with 
George about the Palenque cross, the tone of the lib- 
erty bell, and the absolute authenticity of the Guad- 
alupe tilma image. George refused to argue on sac- 
red subjects, and further reminded the scientific, mat- 
ter-of-fact Billie that we were in the palace of the 
king, at which Billie unconsciously doffed his hat, for 
Billie is some American and the rest English. "We 
made our way out of this royal republican place, and 
by mutual agreement, went to our hotel and to dinner. 

A few blocks down San Francisco street from the 
Plaza is the Alameda, the promenade park for the 
fashionable people. Good walks and shade trees are 
abundant. One side of it fronts on what would be a 
continuation of San Francisco street, if they didn't 
change the name every block or so. It is good and 
wholesome looking and the original of all Alamedas in 
Mexico, and every town possesses one. 

Our visiting was not laid out for us with what 
might be called system, going when and where the im- 
pulse suggested. 



BITS OP OLD MEXICO 15 

PASEO AND GHAPULTEPEC. 

After lunch we found ourselves on the Paseo de 
la Reforma, the main boulevard connecting the city 
and Chapultepec, beginning at the door of our hotel, 
where the Statue Charles IV sits on a horse thoroughly- 
caparisoned and Charles himself all tucked out in his 
best clothes. His feet, however, hang in the air, as the 
designer forgot to put stirrups on the saddle, and foi 
which omission it is said he either went insane or 
killed himself when this error was discovered after the 
statue had been unveiled. Horse and rider are bronze 
and the casting is said to be the largest single piece of 
this metal in the world, weighing 60,000 pounds. 

Tlve paseo is wide and well kept, and in the glor- 
ietas where the avenue widens, statues of some of the 
famous men are erected. There are six or seven of 
these glorietas between the statue of Charles IV and 
Chapultepec. Stone seats under shade trees on the 
sidewalk give good resting places from the heat. 
The avenue was built during the reign of Maximilian 
and is the show place for all the fashionables of 
Mexico on Sunday. 

We soon arrived at Chapultepec or grass-hopper 
hill, a beautiful place where it is said once lived Monte- 
zuma and the rulers before him. The palace that 
stands on the hill was built in 1783-5 by one of the 
viceroys, but has been added to and changed from 
time to time. It is now the official home of the Pres- 
ident and National Military Academy. We were in- 
formed of its grandeur inside, but as we did not have 



16 BITS OP OLD MEXICO 

a permit to enter and as we were in the machine, we 
took interest in the many other things that w^ere shown 
us. A monument at the base of the hill tells of the 
defense of the castle by the cadets, when the Ameri- 
cans stormed it in 1847. Some old trees, Montezumas 
among them ; part of the old aqueduct, a semi-circular 
wall and seats where the graduation of the cadets 
takes place, were all very interesting. 

We visited Coyoacan, once the capital, and older 
than the City of Slexico. We were shown the house 
where Cortez lived Avith Marina, another hoiise with a 
garden in which is the well where he drowned his 
wife. On the road we passed a tree where sixteen 
American soldiers were hung for deserting during the 
Mexican war. An old church, I think San Juan 
Bautista. close to which our machine broke down, was 
visited. We found in it a black Jesus on the cross, 
and many other relies. We got fixed up and visited 
San Angel, where an old monastery has been turned 
into a hotel or road-house. Tlie building was com- 
menced in 1615 and had tine gardens in its time. We 
were shown parts of them that the present occupant is 
trying to put in shape. It is a very interesting place, 
and a young boy about twelve who spoke good Eng- 
lish, showed us through. He had the history of the 
place off by heart. We had lunch in one of the dining 
rooms once used by the monks and climbed on the roof 
to admire the domes and towers and the view of the 
surrounding countr.y. We said good-bye to the old 
house and the young guide and made our way back to 
the hotel at the beginning of the Paceo de la Reforma. 



BITS OP OLD MEXICO 17 

GUADALUPE. 

The next day we visited Guadalupe, the Holy 
of Holies of Mexico. This place has been and is visit- 
ed by hundreds of thousands annually. The miracles 
ascribed to it and its history are wonderful. This is 
the story: It seems that an Indian named Juan Diego, 
a Christian, lived in the village of Tolpetlac and was 
in the habit of lioing- around the hillside of Tepeyaeac 
on his way to the church of Santiago Tlaltelolco. On 
Saturday morning, December 9th, 1531. when on his 
way as usual, he heard sweet music. He was afraid 
and on loking up beheld a lady who bade him hear 
what she had to say. He MJ^as to go to the Bishop and 
tell him that it was her will that a temple in her honor 
should be erected on that hill. He told his story to 
Bishop Zumarraga, who sent him away without pay- 
ing any attention to his story. The Indian returned 
to the hill and found the lady waiting. He told his 
story of the Bishop's non-belief; she bade him come 
again. The following day, Sunday, he went to the hill; 
the lady appeared again, told him to go once more to 
the Bishop with her message. He did so and the 
Bishop, to get rid of him, told him that the lady must 
send him some token that what he said was true, and 
sent two of his servants to watch him, but Juan became 
invisible when he got to the hill, and passing around 
to the other side, saw the lady alone and told her of 
the Bishop's request. She told him to come again the 
next day. When he went home he found his uncle 
Juan Bernardino ill with the fever, and so sick did he 
become that Juan feared his uncle was about to die. 



18 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

On the followiiifr morninp. he started out to Tlaltelo- 
leo to get a confessor and fearing that if he met the 
lady he might be delayed and his uncle die uncon- 
fessed, he went around the other side of the hill, but 
he met her coming down, calling to him. He told her 
about his uncle and she informed him that his uncle 
was again well and ordered him to gather flowers 
from the barren rocks on the top of the hill, and im- 
mediately the flowers grew where flowers had never 
been before. She told him to fold them in his tilma 
or cloak and let no one see them till he had shown 
them to the Bishop. The lady then disappeared and a 
spring of clear cold water gushed forth from the place 
where she stood and is still flowing as the holy well. 

Juan hurried to the Bishop and on dropping the 
flowers at his feet found the image of the Virgin on the 
tilma in the most beautiful colors. The Bishop took 
the tilma and had Juan escorted home by his servants 
and when he arrived found his uncle well as the lady 
had assured him. A chapel was built on the spot 
where the roses sprung up from the rocks, and on the 
7th of February. 1532, the tilma, with the holy image, 
was placed over the altar within the shrine. Juan 
and his uncle attended the church till Juan died in 
1548. 

The legend of the foundation of the church grew, 
miracles ascribed to the spring multiplied, and finally 
Rome, under Pope Alexander VII. sanctioned the 
story. In 1666 a commission was appointed by Senor 
Don Francisco Siles. Dean of the Cathedral. The men 
so appointed went to the village of Cuantitlan. Avhere 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 19 

Juan was born, and had the story confirmed by the 
natives, some of whom were over a hundred years 
old. This evidence was sent to Rome but it was not 
accepted. Still the pilgrims visited the shrine and 
cures followed. Rome became more reconciled and 
raised no objections to the recognition of the miracle, 
and about the middle of the eighteenth century the 
Virgin of Guadalupe was made the patron saint of 
Mexico. 

Hidalgo took the banner of the Virgin from the 
church on the 15th of September, 1810, and proclaim- 
ed the independence of Mexico, and Guadalupe be- 
came the battle cry. There are many churches around 
the hill where the original one was built fourteen days 
after the apparition. One hundred years after a larger 
church was erected, and the tilma placed in it Novem- 
ber, 1622, and has remained there ever since, except 
four years in the Cathedral of the City of Mexico. 

In 1887, Father Antonio Plauearti began the reno- 
vation of the church of our Lady of Guadalupe and 
lived to see its completion. He died in 1898. 

The altar containing the frame holding the tilma 
is Carrara marble; on the left is the figure of Juan 
Zumarraga; on the right, that of Juan Diego, and in 
front the kneeling figure of the Archbishop of Mexico 
under whose direction the work was completed. 

The altar holds the tilma in which Juan brought 
the roses and on which the image appeared. This pic- 
ture was submitted to artists and learned men for ex- 
amination, and their verdict was that the picture was 
not painted, and they could not say that the colors 



20 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

were put on in any way known to art. This helped the 
mystery, and in 1895 a crown of gold and gems was 
contributed by the women of Mexico, the making alone 
of which cost $30,000. All the dignataries of the 
church assembled at the ceremony and tens of thous- 
ands of the faithful gathered around tlie church. This 
was the crowning glory of the tilma and the Lady of 
Guadalupe. 

The chapel of the well is on the east of the church. 
It has a dome of glazed tile and just inside and under 
the dome, is the spring where stood the Virgin. It is 
sulphur water, and surely a spring. All day long 
the faithful come to drink at the holy well. The 
spring is covered by an iron grating. Copper 
pitchers are lowered to the water by chains. The 
water is about ten or twelve feet from the surface. It 
is continually flowing and the force of the water can 
be seen very plainly. The pitchers or measures by 
which the water is raised and from which all drink 
indiscriminately had lips of copper at one time but 
they are worn away by the application of the lips of 
the faithful, who come to drink at the holy well. 
Bottles of earthenware can be bought close by. We 
procured some and took away with us to California 
as mementos some of the water of this celebrated 
spring. 

A short distance from the spring is the stone 
stairway leading to the chapel of the hill. The steps 
are many and not easy to climb. Beggars or pilgrims 
sit at different points and about half way up are the 
stone sails of Guadalupe placed there by some storm 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 21 

tossed sailors, who, finding themselves in danger, pray- 
ed to the Virgin, and promised that if she would bring 
them safe to land, they would carry the foremast to the 
hill of Guadalupe and set the sails before her shrine. 
They were saved and made good their promise, for the 
sails are there, built of stone, but the canvas is said 
to be built inside. They are cemented and bellowed 
as sails would be in a wind. They are quite a feature 
and can be seen from a great distance. No one seems 
to know when the sails were built nor the names of the 
people and this lends added interest to the hill and 
the Lady. 

In the chapel of the hill where the flowers grew 
from the rocks and in the main church at the foot of 
the hill are hundreds of testimonials of faith cures or 
miracles wrought by the Virgin. They consist of paint- 
ings, some very crude, drawn by persons cured or sav- 
ed, and depicting the actual occurrence. Back of the 
altar in the main church in a place set apart for this 
purpose the walls are literally covered with testi- 
monials of this character. 

Guadalupe, viewed even from the standpoint of a 
skeptic, is wonderful. A shrine and the religion that 
can bring the Mexicans that I saw to their knees in 
humility, must have a beneficial influence on their 
lives and character. Good-bye, Guadalupe; we leave 
you without trying to lessen your influence, or solve 
your mysteries. 



22 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

LA VIGA CANAL. 

Tlin irui<le book told us to go to "La Viga Canal," 
and we went. We went by street car and landed a 
few blocks from the canal proper, but that was not 
its fault but ours. I have been to the gap of Dunloe. 
Ireland, and the Blue Grotto at Capri, Italy, and am 
prepared to say that the places are all right. So is 
the Viga Canal; like the others, if one could kill off 
the people temporarily, and allow a person to enjoy the 
thing, without being importuned, coerced, or begged 
for something in the shape of money that you don't 
want to separate yourself from. 

The Viga Canal is beautiful in history, and its 
floating gardens still float. The paseo de la Viga runs 
along the bank of the famous canal — so says the book. 
It does not tell you of the horde of natives who want 
to sell you their boat, or the worse alternative of 
walking on a poor street. Of the smell and stench, 
of the unsanitary conditions of little stagnant ditches 
across from this canal, on the paseo de la Viga where 
open seepage filters or stands in gulleys, raising its 
noise to heaven and to ones nostrils. 

The canal itself is muddy-looking and about thirt.v 
feet wide. The guide book assures you that the water 
does not carry off the sewage of the city, but is pure 
as it comes from the lakes. I don't question the book, 
but the lake had better get an immunity bath for 
purity. 

The canal, if it were wider, and the water clean, 
the paseo alongside made good, the stench on the op- 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 23 

posite side modified, the boats made possible, and the 
boatmen drowned, then I am inclined to believe that 
Dick would provide a good lunch, including liquids 
and solids; George would have faith in the floating 
garden; Billie would let up on the accuracy of the 
amount of animal and vegetable matter afloat on the 
canal and all would be perfectly happy on a trip in one 
of the many flower-decorated floating palaces to be 
found on or in the celebrated canal de la Viga. 

THE BULL FIGHT. 

In Mexico one could possibly get along without 
chili con carne, tortillas, or even frijoles, but to get 
along without seeing a bull fight when opportunity 
presents itself, would simply be unreasonable. Op- 
portunity and desire worked hand in hand. The day 
was Sunday and a special event by some celebrated 
fighters, whether Mexican or Spanish, I don't know. 
Anyhow, we had our tickets, and soon found ourselves 
inside, or rather outside, for when you get in, you 
are out, so far as the sun in concerned. Our seats 
called for "sombre," but the sun seemed to do busi- 
ness there as well as in the other parts of the arena; 
but we had come to see a bull fight, and so made up 
our minds that everything leading up to that event 
was all right, we paid thirty cents each to a peddler 
for cushions, which, in a measure saves one from the 
heat of the concrete seats, and the mention of the 
seats reminds me that a short description of the bull- 
pen or arena might be in order. 

"The plaza de Toros" is something up to date and 



24 BITS OF OIJ) MEXICO 

a little ahead in IMexieo. It is built of steel and con- 
crete, in circular form. The arena jn-oper, where the 
fight occurs, is, say 250 feet in diameter. Then comes 
a bench about two feet high and a fence six feet high, 
an aisle about four feet; then ten feet above that be- 
gins the seats, all in the open, and arranged in such 
manner that everyone can see. The seating capacity 
is about thirty-five thousand. 

After the president is seated, for even bull fights 
have referees or judges, and all is ready a bugle blows, 
and from the side opposite where the judge sits enter 
the performers. First comes the manager or some- 
thing of that kind on a horse. He is a regular Cali- 
fornia cowboy in his Sunday clothes. lie rides across 
the bull pen, and says in Mexican-Spanish that he 
would like permission to annihilate a few bulls. The 
president, (also in Spanish) "You're on," then the 
cowboy makes his horse back away from the presi- 
dent's station, clear across the arena, and the more he 
makes the horse dance and jump around the more 
applause he gets. 

The curtain now being up. so to speak, a gate 
opens directly opposite the judge, and in comes the 
show (all but the bull). 

The}' come in theatrical costumes of silk. First 
the gentlemen who do the assassination of the bulls; 
then the banderilleros, or assistant assassins, then the 
capeadores, or the hope-to-be bull killers, whose pres- 
ent duty is to be a red rag to the bull, the riders of 
"has-been" horses that are to be killed by the bulls, 
and the mules to drag out the dead — all parade to the 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 25 

center and look pleasant. The president gives his 
permission and the show is on. 

A door opens from which rushes a bull that has 
been confined in the dark. Just before it reaches 
the arena a steel barb is stuck in its shoulder with 
colors to tell the audience where it came from and 
make the bull mad. The barb usually carries the col- 
ors of the breeder and the fight is often decided in the 
minds of the populace by the colors. 

The bull, as it comes in, generally stops on account 
of the light, but after taking its bearings and finding 
something to get even on for the prong that is stick- 
ing in its shoulder, makes a break for the nearest thing 
it sees and that is one of the hopes-to-be, with a color- 
ed flag, but he gets over the fence. The bull then 
sees a horse and a man. The horse is old and brought 
out for the purpose of additional excitement, and 
whetting the bull's appetite for battle. The rider 
deliberately rides the poor old thing blindfolded, on 
one side, and meets the onslaught of the bull. The 
man unfortunately can see. The horse is gored; if not 
killed, a second chance is presented. Better be killed 
in the first attack, old hack, for if only ripped up and 
the judge's bugle sounds the end of the first round, 
and you are ridden out, you Mall be sewed up and 
ridden in again for another bull. After a number of 
attacks, and the horses have or have not been killed, 
a bugle sounds and one part of the fight is over and the 
horses are taken away. The bull looks the situation 



2b BlTb OF OLD MEXICO 

over and chases the eapeadore. whose duty it is to 
attract the attention of the bull. 

Tlie handerillero now does his act by attracting 
the bull's atleiition, and as it ciiarjrcs, he steps to one 
side and plants Iwo handerillas in the bull's shoulder. 
It is quite a feat to stick the banderillas correctly, as 
they nuist not he placed back of the shoulder. The 
banderilla is an iron dart about two feet long, barbed 
;it the poiiii. and wlien correctly placed will stand up 
straight. The bull, about this time, is thoroughly 
aroused to madness, and it tears around the ring, only 
to get some more banderillas stuck in its other should- 
er by one of its tormentors. One of the bauderilleros 
sat down in a chair and after the bull got its eye on 
him and his flag, charged at full speed. The man sat 
in the chair till the bull was within about five feet of 
him; then, jumping to one side, let the bull pass, at 
the same time planting two more of the darts in its 
shoulder. It seems that the bull, when it charges 
shuts its eyes, and the bull fighter, knowing this, 
figures accordingly. This fellow who tlid the chair 
act, then took a long vaulting pole and let the bull 
charge him, and as it approached, he stuck the pole in 
the ground and vaulted, the bull striking the pole, 
and the man lauding behind the bull. 

After these gentlemen have shown what they can 
do in banderilla sticking, the bugle Grounds and then 
comes the great act of killing. The matador, with his 
sword and red flag, comes out and makes a speech, 
while the other fellows are entertaining the bull at 
the other end of the ring. After telling the audience 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 27 

how he is going to do it and throwing his hat to some 
one, as much as to say, "If I don't do this right, I will 
eat my hat," or Avords to that effect, he proceeds to 
have the bull charge him by flaunting his red rag. 
The bull is allowed to get a number of chances at the 
matador, and usually winds up by standing with head 
down while the flag is flaunted before him. The mata- 
dor points his sword and the bull charges. The mata- 
dor jumps to one side and as he does so, plunges the 
sword through the bull's shoulder into its heart. 
Should the thrust be true, the bull either falls or runs 
a few paces and gradually sinks to the ground; then 
another man, called the cachetero runs up and with a 
knife cuts the spinal cord, and the bull, sure enough, is 
a dead one. Sometimes the matador fails to kill and 
the bull will run around the ring with the sword of the 
matador sticking in his shoulder. Then he or some 
other matador must let the bull charge, and snatch 
the sword out and try again. 

The crowd shows its approval or disapproval in 
a manner not to be forgotten. Should the matador 
kill his bull as he has promised the audience will go 
wild and throw their hats and cigars into the ring to 
show their approval and yell like so many Indians 
but should the unfortunate swordsman fail after a 
number of trials to dispatch his bull he will soon find 
out that he is not one of the most beloved in Mexico. 

The bull being dead, four mules are driven into 
the arena and the dead bull is hitched onto a tackle 
and dragged around the ring and out. Six bulls, I 
understand, constitute a show. Six were killed 



28 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

at the fipht I saw and two refused to fight and were 
run off the field in disgrace but you could almost see 
them wink the other eye when a couple of trained 
old bulls came in and ran around the ring with them 
and led them out. I don't know which bull had the 
best of the argument, the one that fought and was 
killed, or the one that wouldn't fight and got killed 
because he didn't. 

The fight is over. The people file out. Then 
comes the company of soldiers that have been on duty 
inside the arena to preserve order, and it seems from 
what I have heard that their presence is necessary, 
for on more than one occasion the audience have 
broken up everything they could get hold of when the 
fight did not come up to their standard of blood and 
thunder. 

I have seen the show and would not have missed 
it, but would not care to see it as a continuous per- 
formance. The killing of the bulls is not so exceed- 
ingly brutal, since they are killed as a rule anyway, 
but the slaughter of the poor horses, is, in my opinion, 
without excuse. Had the horse a run for its money, 
or a show for its life, there might be some sport in it, 
but to deliberately ride a poor old hack of a horse 
against a maddened bull and allow the bull to rip it 
up, I consider not only brutal but cowardly. If they 
would put a good rider on a California bronco and let 
the rider use his horsemanship in getting away from 
the bull, I would think it sport, but to kill a poor old 
hack of a horse for the edification of the crowd is 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 29 

enough to condemn the whole business of bull fighting. 

I had an argument Avith one of the lovers of the 
sport about the horse killing, and he tried to justify 
it by saying that the horses were old and useless, and 
put the question to me like this: Would you rather 
see an old horse hitched up to a carriage and whipped 
because it could not go the pace its driver required, or 
brought into the arena after it had been given an in- 
jection that practically killed all feeling, yet at the 
same time gave it a temporary fire, and be killed by 
the horns of the bull, the end sudden and practically 
painless, when otherwise, life would be one of pain 
and misery, I didn't know then and I don't know 
now about the life or death of the horse from this 
point of view, but I do know that if the horse was 
supposed to be killed in a fight it should be given a 
show to defend itself, instead of being blindfolded. It 
seems to me if they blindfolded the rider and let the 
horse have its sight, there might be more justice in 
the fight than the way I saw it. 

The people seemed to enjoy it, and as it is their 
national sport, if I don't like it. I can keep away from 
it, and go and see a prize fight where a couple of 
gentlemen will be able to punch each other to a jellj^ 
in an approved and scientific manner before an aud- 
ience of the most enlightened people on the face of 
the earth. 

THE PYRAMIDS. 

The following day was devoted to visiting the 
pyramids of the sun and moon at San Juan Teolihua- 



30 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

can, about twenty-five miles from the city. We got 
an early train and after an hour's run found ourselves 
on the platform of the station, and about three miles 
from the {)yraniids proper. How to get there became 
the question. We incjuired and were given to under- 
stand that a short line railroad across the street or 
plaza would take us there. We found what might 
be a station or engine house ; the tracks were there 
and a handcar somewhat larger than that used by road 
crews. We sat down on it and wondered if this was 
to be our train. We hadn't long to wait, for in a min- 
ute five bare-footed natives came running out from 
somewhere and got aboard. I gave an imitation of a 
train whistle. They laughed and immediately started 
the machine, pumping in the most approved railroad 
fashion. The road Avas up hill and the work was 
hard. They tried to be sociable in Mexican and we en- 
deavored to reciprocate in English, but I noticed that 
we never saw a joke at the same time. It was usually 
a laugh by the Mexicans followed by a silence on our 
part after we had hurled a few well chosen sentences 
at them in the purest Castilian. Our laugh came in at 
the evident mistake that had been made somewhere 
for we were either Government officials or guests ex- 
pected by the officers. This conclusion we arrived at 
by their desire to get us there, and the apparent re- 
spect shown us. 

We arrived at a gate or entrance leading to the 
pyramids. We alighted from our observation car and 
a hurried conversation took place, the five Mexicans 
all talking at once. I took it for granted that money 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 31 

was the chief topic of interest, and proceeded to in- 
fonn them that they would receive a rich rew«rd on 
delivering us once more at the railroad station at San 
Juan. This did not seem to meet Avith unanimous 
approval, and I finally convinced them that one of 
their party should accompany us. This seemed to be 
more or less satisfactory. The ear was taken off the 
track and carried inside the gate, and we all proceed- 
ed to what appeared to be a guard house. We were 
confronted by soldiers, and I was informed that I 
would have to leave my camera there while inspect- 
ing these monuments to Mexican greatness, as no tour- 
ist was permitted to take pictures. 

Our train crew and escort we soon discovered 
were soldiers, and on their arrival, were apparently 
put on duty, and that was the last we saw of them. 
We regretted this very much as we had intended to 
give them some money for their trouble. A guide was 
detailed to show us about and take us to the top if 
we so desired, but we didn't. We walked around 
the pyramid of the sun and climbed part way up, took 
a look at the moon, returned to the guard house, 
bought some photographs, treated the official photo- 
grapher and others as we found beer for sale, tip- 
ped the guide, got our belongings and started for the 
gate and our hand car. But the train crew was missing 
and probably at that moment was watching us from 
afar and hurling a few choice morsels of dialect at us 
for our Gringo meanness. While we were wondering 
if we would have to be like bad actors and count the 
railroad ties, a Avagon carrying some tourists arrived 



32 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

on the scene, and we bargained with the driver to take 
us back to the station. We arrived, I was going to 
say, safe and sound, but I think it would be better to 
just say, we arrived, for the road over which that 
wagon found its way was fearfully and wonderfully 
made, but the ruins of shrine and wall strewn along 
the route compensated for the ruined road we traveled, 
but all things Mexican have an end, and so did our 
road. We had about an hour to contemplate the pic- 
ture and our experience before the train arrived to 
take us back to the City of Mexico. 

The visit itself, after all was over, was satisfac- 
tory, and we look back on it as one of much interest. 

The pyramids of the sun and moon, we learned, 
are about twenty-five or thirt.y miles east of the City 
of Mexico. The history of their building, like that of 
many other monuments of that country, is lost, because 
as is believed of the destruction of the picture writ- 
ings of the Aztecs and Toltics by the Spaniards. Be 
this as it may the pyramid of the sun as it stands today 
is 761 by 721 feet at the ground line. 216 feet 8 inches 
high and 105 by 59 feet at the top. The pyramid of 
the moon is 511 by 426 feet at the base. 151 feet high 
and 19 feet 8 inches square on top. Both are faced 
on the outside with large boulders or rough broken 
rock of irregular .size from 8 to 18 inches square, ob- 
long or round. The sun is apparently solid, as no 
chambers have ever been found in it. The pyramid of 
the moon, though smaller, has an added interest in 
the fact that some years ago an entrance to a chamber 
was discovered and when the chamber was explored. 





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BITS OP OLD MEXICO 33 

it was found to face due north and south. Its walls 
were of cut stone; its size we did not get. 

The valley in which these pyramids are built 
is said to contain many wonderful ruins, and a cause- 
way has been traced from the citadel passing the pyra- 
mid of the sun and ending at the pyramid of the moon. 
This is known as the street of the dead. Along its 
sides are old ruins supposed to be shrines and in which 
have been found chests of cut stone containing skulls 
and ornaments, but the history of the builders and 
their lives has been left largely to conjecture. 

The absolute depth of the foundation of these 
pyramids has never been ascertained, but it is thought 
that if they were uncovered, they would be the largest 
in the world. 

The next day was devoted to automobiling. Wc 
took in the American cemetery where the remains 
of seven hundred and fifty American soldiers killed 
in the Mexican war, lie buried in one common grave, 
over which is erected a monument. Many other dis- 
tinguished Americans are buried in this, the only spot 
in Mexico where the American flag can wave alone. 
The place is in charge of an old veteran of the civil 
war. His name is Thomas. He is paid by the United 
States Government, and deserves great credit for the 
care he bestows on it. We tried to give him some- 
thing for the care of the flowers, but he wouldn't 
have it, declaring that Uncle Sam paid for the care 
of all things pertaining to the place, including himself. 



34 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

We were verj' mueh pleased at the old man's pride and 
his loyalty to liis country. 

On our return from the cemetery we passed the 
"Portales" of the letter writers. Here is a street, or 
at least a block where the sidewalk or portales is de- 
voted to the reading and writin<r of letters for the 
benefit of those who don't know the language, or more 
especially for those who cannot read or write. A 
letter is taken to one of the men or women at this 
place and it is read to the owner as often as necessary 
to get all the contents into his head. Then the owner 
of the letter either goes liome to impart the news to the 
family and frame a reply or has it answered immed- 
iately. Typewriting machines have been introduced 
lately, and we were informed that quite a protest 
was raised by the natives against the American mil- 
lionaire-like machine for letter writing. 

Many amusing stories are told about the young 
swain going with a love letter from his inamorita to 
have it read by one of these professional letter writers, 
and one in particular is told for gospel truth as hav- 
ing happened on the portales. and runs as follows: A 
3'oung girl whose lover had gone away and from whom 
she had received a letter hied her to the portales to 
have it read. Her first (luestion was, "Who is it 
from?*' and when told she insisted on the letter reader 
putting cotton batting in her ears so that she could 
not hear what was about to be read. The story is a 
good one but it has been told so often in the United 
States that when it got out of standing as a joke, it 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 35 

betook itself to the portales in the City of Mexico. 

In motoring one is attracted by the number of 
small boys that run immediately in front of the pass- 
ing machine. I remarked on this fact and was in- 
formed that they were small bull fighters or boys that 
"hoped to be," and they passed as near as possible, 
making believe the machine was a bull and showing 
their dexterity by touching the auto as it came within 
an inch of running them down. I found that boys 
play bull fighting on the streets and plazas as boys in 
the United States play tag or ball. One boy becomes 
the bull and about three or four others are matadores 
or toreadores. The fighters use an old newspaper for 
a flag, and the bull boy charges one at a time. The 
game is for the bull to butt a fighter and the fighter 
shows his cleverness by side stepping, and I was told 
that many of these small boys actually become sure 
enough bull fighters through the dexterity acquired in 
their game of make-believe. 

We had now seen as much of the city and its sur- 
roundings as time would allow, so we procured tickets 
for Vera Cruz, and the following morning at 7 a. m., 
pulled out on our way to places and scenes truly Mex- 
ican. 

The journey from the city to Esperanza is unin- 
teresting except here and there, such as, passing in 
view of the pyramids of the sun and moon before 
mentioned, and the stop at Apizaco, where canes of all 
sizes with curious carvings are exposed for sale — the 



36 BITS OP OLD MEXICO 

larjre ones aic like cord wood and the smallest like 
tooth picks. 

The country through which we passed is barren 
except for cactus or the puhiue plant. I was attract- 
ed to it at first on account of its resemblance to the 
century plant. Thousands of acres of land seemed 
to groM- nothinji: else. The plant is set out like a vine- 
yard or orchard, in regular rows. We had heard 
about the pulque and during our visit to the city had 
visited some of the cantinas devoted exclusively to the 
sale of that beverage ; and now we were in the midst 
of its cultivation, if such a word can be used, for it 
seems to come out of a soil that positively refuses to 
produce anything else in the shape of plant life. I 
was astonished to learn the extent of the traffic in its 
product, and will just let the train take care of itself 
between Apizaco and Esperanza while I set down 
something about it. 

The maguey plant produces pulque tequila and 
mescal, the last two liquors being obtained by distill- 
ing the roots and lower leaves, and the pulque by fer- 
menting the sap or juice of the heart and upper leaves. 
It blooms but once, and when that event takes place, 
what would be the flower is cut out. leaving a bowl- 
like hole in the center, into which the sap from the 
leaves empty, and as each leaf pours out its juice it 
withers and dies. This juice is called "honey water." 
The natives come daily and from each plant so tapped 
suck up with a gourd from one to two gallons till the 
plant is dead. This juice is emptied into a hogskin 
and from the hogskin to a cank in the wagon. It is 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 37 

then taken to the ranch or hacienda and fermented, 
and special trains are run at night on passenger train 
time to get the pulque on the city market before it 
spoils. I was told that four long trains laden with 
this milk-looking "jag producer" arrive every morn- 
ing, and is immediately distributed to the four 
hundred cantinas that make a specialty of dispensing 
fresh the pulque that would spoil if left in the pig skin, 
but makes the world look brighter when stowed away 
in the hogskin. 

Tequila is an intermediate between pulque and 
mescal. The latter is the strongest and has about 
the same strength as American tangle foot; tequila 
about the strength of the so-called California foot 
juice, and pulque the characteristics of them both when 
taken in sufficient quantities. 

The mountains of Popocatapetl and Ixtaceihuatl 
17,782 and 16,060 feet high respectively, can be seen 
for quite a distance on this road. Then comes 
Mount Malintzi, 13,462 feet, along the base of which 
the train wends its way. About one o'clock in the 
afternoon, the train arrives at Esperanza, a junction 
8,043 feet above the sea. A good meal is served in 
twenty minutes. It consists of about seven courses, if 
you want to take it that way. The different dishes are 
passed and if you are lively you get your share, al- 
though there is a good supply, but the courses come so 
rapidly that you have about satisfied yourself what you 
are going to eat when the next course comes along. 

After lunch I lit a cigar and looked around while 
the others of our party Avere yet at the table and on 



38 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

my return to the platform saw my train about a hund- 
red yards down the track on its way to Vera Cruz. 
Billie was on the rear platform in company with some 
Mexican gentleman. He beckoned me to hurry up, 
and the Mexicans signalled with their hands to go 
back. All hands became more or less confusing in 
their signs. I did not know whether from Billie 's 
sign to run ahead and catch up with the train, or take 
the Mexican's signal to mean that the train was only 
switching. My doubts were ended by the train stop- 
ping and Billie shouting that I had been left. When 
this fact dawned on me. I think I broke the sprint- 
ing record to get aboard. 

Tlie ride from Esperanza down through and 
around the mountains to Maltrata, a distance of seven- 
teen miles, by winding rail and a drop of 2,493 feet, is 
as pretty a piece of scenery as it has ever been my 
privilege to behold. A stop is made at Alta Luz for 
the engine to take water and this is the point where 
everybody gets out. for the scene is almost beyond 
description. The guide book tells you that you are 
twelve miles by rail from Maltrata, yet there, two 
thousand feet straight down below you, can be seen 
the red tiles of the roofs, the streets and gardens, the 
fields and rivers, in all their varied colors, like a minia- 
ture landscape. 

The railroad can be seen on the mountainside at 
different levels on its way to the valley, and beyond 
all this wonderful scene on the opposite side, arises the 
tall peak of Mount Orizaba, 17,356 feet high. The 
grandeur of this picture is enhanced by the fact that it 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 39 

comes oil one so suddenly. After passing over a bridge 
or trestle the height of which makes j'^our hair raise 
in protest or fear, you plunge into a tunnel and from 
its darkness out into the bright sunlight directly upon 
the scene above spoken of. As we descended over 
bridges, through tunnels, or clinging to the mountain 
side, it is surprise after surprise. The road at one 
place enters the Canon " Inf iernillo " or the ravine of 
the "Little Hell." At this point a bridge one hundred 
and forty feet high is built over a roaring cascade. 
The mountain side is a sheer up and down precipice 
with the water falling into the chasm beloAv. 

After losing the view, by running around the 
mountain and through a tunnel, we come to the valley 
of the cascades; from this on we are in the tropics, 
and coffee and cane fields, bananas and other tropical 
products are on either side. 

We soon arrive at Maltrata, where we stop for a 
few minutes. The difference between the northern 
Mexican and the people we noAv found was a revela- 
tion. Here was cleanliness and life ; the women dress- 
ed in light washable material and the men in white 
wide pants and Avider sombreros. All was color and 
gayety, and happiness seemed in the very air. 

A run of about three quarters of an hour through 
cotton fields and orange groves lands us in the town 
of Orizaba where we break our journey for the present. 

ORIZABA. 

The town proper is about a half mile from the 
station; is old and pretty and had quite a history 



40 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

even before the conquest, having been noted then, as 
it is now, for its climate; its freedom from fever 
niakinp: it a resort for the people from the coast. It 
has one long street and several cross ones of smaller 
length and width. Its market is one of the principal 
features, and the tropical fruit display is something 
to marvel at. The churches, of course, take the lead 
in importance. The first EI Calvario. later the Santa 
Teresa, was built in 1564. The present parish church 
is the church that was completed in 1720. It is called 
the San Miguel. It is of stone and recjuired about 
fifty years to build. It contains a fine inlaid chest of 
ebony and ivory for the keeping of the vestments. 
Many other churches of almost equal age and impor- 
tance are to be found in different parts of the town, 
and each one with its particular history. 

The coffee groves are so abundant the guide 
book tells us that we will be at a loss to know 
whether the coffee groves are in Orizaba or Orizaba 
in the coffee groves. 

The town is situated on a terrace, the first one 
above the Tierra Caliente, snuggling close to the 
mountain, beyond which can be seen the snow capped 
top of the volcano of Orizaba. 

Cotton cuts quite a figure in the industry of the 
place, and manj- mills are in the immediate neighbor- 
hood. We had the pleasure of visiting one during our 
stay, and this is how it happened. 

A play of some kind was running at the theatre, 
and we took it in the first evening of our arrival. We 
went out between the acts and on our return Billie 



BITS OP OIjD MEXICO 41 

wandered down the isle with an unlighted cigar in his 
mouth. We were not vsure about smoking, but felt 
more or less safe, as a person may smoke almost any- 
where in Mexico. We had scarcely sat down, when a 
gentleman with great earnestness of manner requested 
Billie to remove his cigar. He spoke English but 
Billie, ever ready for an argument, wanted to know 
why, and was informed that should he smoke he 
would be arrested, and ignorance would prove of no 
avail. He might be kept in prison or given a trial, 
as the authorities deemed best. The warning and 
explanation were taken with thanks and we became ac- 
quainted with the gentleman, who happened to be the 
manager of a cotton mill, and who extended to us an 
invitation to pay it a visit. 

The following day Billie and George started out 
to get a carriage, Dick and I looking around and 
waiting their return. When we got back to the hotel 
we learned that they had secured one, but not finding 
us, had started off for the mill. We got another car- 
riage, one I think that had been used in the procession 
at the laying of the corner stone of the first church 
in Orizaba, and started out after our friends. 

The road was up hill, and the "rocky road" to 
Dublin was a bituminized boulevard compared to this, 
so rough indeed was the road, that we positively made 
up our minds that we would get spilled, and made ar- 
rangements according to what side we went over 
on as to how we would act so as to preserve our lives ; 
but we arrived, much to the surprise of our friends and 
the manager, who were out on the street waiting our 



42 BITS OP OLD MEXICO 

fdininjr. Findinir it difficult to ij^et there by carriage, 
they had dismissed theirs and walked making much 
better time than we with the horses. The manager 
dismissed our conveyance saying that he would not 
all()\\ us to try to get back down hill with it, but would 
take us in his private street car which he did eventu- 
ally. 

The factory employs about three hundred men 
who do ever\i:hing from the reception of the raw 
material to the completion of the finished article. The 
factory is an English concern and the manager in- 
formed us that he would not allow a woman to work 
in the place. After we had been initiated into all the 
mysteries of cotton manufacturing, a couple of mules 
were hitched onto a street car of good size and we 
were driven in state as far as the entrance of the main 
street beyond which private street cars were not al- 
lowed to go. After taking a snapshot of the two-mule 
power car and saying "good-bye" to its owner, we lit 
fresh cigars as a sort of thanksgiving not only for the 
pleasure of having seen the cotton mill, but also for the 
fortunate circumstance of having saved Billie from 
languishing in prison for violating the sancity of a 
Mexican theatre by smoking an American cigar. 

We took in the many attractions of the town and 
vicinity; had pointed out to us a road cut by the 
French soldiers from which they had bombarded the 
town and where they defeated the Mexican troops 
on the night of July lath. 18(i2. 

Orizaba was a favorite resort of Maximilian dur- 
ing his short reign as emperor, and one could not 



BITS OP OLD MEXICO 43 

blame him for his choice if the place and people were 
as clean then as now. 

The brewery of Orizaba is <iuite an institution 
and its beer is as celebrated in Mexico as is that of 
Milwaukee in the United States. Orizaba, with its 
altitude of 4,832 feet above Vera Cruz, and its eighty- 
two miles distance, is a place to rest and recuperate; 
but we must hurry on, so, at 3:45 in the afternoon of 
the second day of our visit, we wheeled our way out 
with pleasant memories of its people and scenery. 

A run of about tAvent.y minutes brings to view a 
horseshoe bend of immense size, curving over the 
waters below. The Rio Grande can be seen from 
another point close by, about a thousand feet below 
in the ravine. 

We went up grade a little by way of variety 
through the town or village of Fortin, on and down 
through fields of sugar cane, palm and palmetto, coffee 
plantations, orange groves, pineapple and bananas 
succeeded each other or mingled together. The sight 
is good to look upon, and when the whistle blows and 
the train stops at Cordova you have become quite en- 
chanted with the tropical climate and its products, in- 
cluding the picturesque native of both genders. 

VERA CRUZ. 

A short stop and away we go through more tun- 
nels and plantations, winding in and out and up and 
down. We finally take an easy grade down the slope 
leading into Vera Cruz, at which place we arrived at, 
7:35 p. m. We had been told the hotel to put up at, 



44 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

and soon onfraiiPfl two carriages or victorias, but found 
we could not get our hand baggage all in. We were 
relieved of this trouble, however, by a small army 
of cargadores. Each one took a piece of baggage 
and was at tlie hotel as soon as the carriages, and each 
demanded fifty cents for his individual piece. They 
knew we were tenderfeet, so we paid after a protest. 
It was only twenty-five cents in American money, but 
a person gets awfully stingy when in a country cheaper 
than his own. 

We soon found out that we were in the right 
town, but the wrong hotel, for after seeing our rooms, 
we had a shrewd suspicion that we were not at the 
Palace or St. Francis in San Francisco, and after din- 
ner our suspicion became a certainty. We looked 
around town and located a good looking hotel and 
made up our minds to make it our stopping place on 
our return trip. 

We slept better than we anticipated, but were 
up early and down to breakfast. Mine host was on 
hand. He looked like a retired pirate, but one who 
might go back into business if necessity required. He 
spoke English in a most villainous manner and served 
his meals as he spoke. We wanted oranges; he would 
send for them he said; he did, and while the official 
whose duty it was to purchase fruit at the market was 
busy, we ordered the other dishes. About the time 
breakfast was cooked, the orange official returned 
with a miscellaneous collection of fruit, but no oranges. 

One particular fruit or vegetable placed before us 
attracted general attention. In appearance it resem- 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 45 

bled a roug'h skinned Irish potato before cooking. We 
examined it but were at a loss to know whether to cut 
it, peel it or bite it. We decided to show onr ignorance 
and enquired. Our pirate host told us they wei-e 
zapotos ; he cut one in halves and gave us a tea spoon. 
We dug into the meat part of it which looked some- 
thing like the inside of a green fig, but tasted different. 
We found them quite palatable and ate them with a 
relish. Soft boiled eggs, coffee and tortillas complet- 
ed our breakfast. 

Our next desire was to see the toAvn and procure 
steamer tickets for Frontera. After some enquiry we 
found the ticket office and proceeded to exchange our 
limited Spanish for their lack of English, in our en- 
deavor to separate ourselves from the money necessary 
to get passage on the steamer Tehauntepec. After a 
terrific slaughter of both languages we found ourselves 
on the street holding on to a piece of paper telling us 
all about ourselves and assuring us of cabin seis and 
every berth therein contained. 

We then started to take in the town, and by good 
luck, met with two gentlemen from Pittsburg whose 
acquaintance we had made on the train, and who were 
also on their way to Frontera. One of the Pittsbur- 
gers. a Mr. Morrison, had a firm grip on the language 
and a fair knowledge of the town, so he was of great 
assistance to us in making purchases and getting 
the price of articles doAvn to almost normal. 

A pair of long boots that the store-keeper wanted 
fifteen dollars for, became a part of my outfit for ten. 
We made other necessary purchases on the same basis 



46 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

and devoted the balance of the day to sight-seeing. 

The plaza, cigar manufacturing, the docks, the 
streets and the buzzards, are the chief attractions. 

The plaza, in the midst of the business center is 
good. Under its trees are tables and seats where you 
may rest and find shelter from the sun, have drinks 
and cigars or sandwiches served, but it is wise to keep 
your liand on the sandwich, if you have one, or the 
buzzard will be in a square meal at your expense. 
These birds are the scavengers of the streets and are 
protected by law. They are more plentiful in the 
plaza than the natives and have less regard for your 
comfort. 

The principal plaza is bounded by the jail on one 
side, and the portales directly opposite, a good hotel 
and business stores on the third side, and a church on 
the fourth ; from these points radiate the business life 
of the city. 

The houses in this immediate neighborhood are 
good and the stores of like character. The streets 
are a revelation in make and cleanliness, a new sewer 
system having recently been established and the streets 
bitumined. All this was done because the Government 
demanded it as a preventive against plague. 

Vera Cruz used to be a pest hole but since san- 
itary conditions have been established it is one of 
the healthiest cities in the country. It is the principal 
port and has been for hundreds of years. Formerly 
vessels had to lay outside but jetties and breakwaters 
have been constructed and vessels can now come up 
to the piers. A'^era Cruz is also the home of the Mex- 



BITS OP OLD MEXICO 47 

ican cigar, the plant being raised in large quantities in 
the surrounding country. We bought them and smok- 
ed them in all their varied sizes and prices. They 
have a flavor all their own and many people like them. 
As an outdoor cigar they fill the bill but a half dozen 
smokers in a close room would not be pleasant com- 
pany for a person not an inveterate lover of the weed. 

We spent the evening in the plaza listening to the 
music of a good band and watching the never ending 
procession of the senors and senoritas moving around 
in stately grace and I must say that with the same 
number of people in a like resort in our own country 
the degree of decorum would not be maintained that 
can be witnessed in any plaza in the cities of Mexico. 

We retired to our hotel pleased with the thought 
that it was to be our last night in this substitute for 
our own fireside. 

Next morning we busied ourselves with packing 
and getting ready for the sea trip to Frontera, and 
about two in the afternoon settled up with our pirate 
landlord, who had an extra day charged to our ac- 
count. His attention being called to the calendar, he 
climbed down very gracefully and blamed it on the 
bookkeeper. 

T told him to order tAVO carriages to take our 
traps to the boat, and he was so obliging that he 
Avent after them himself, but returned in about ten 
minutes with the information that it was impossible. 
We were apparently up against it. so to speak, but the 
good man had been looking after our welfare for the 
ten cargadores that brought our things to the hotel 



48 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

were all lined up in the hall ready to carry one piece 
each at fifty cents i)er. We saw his little game and I 
told the boys to get our traps down and I would look 
for the earriages. I went to the plaza and returned 
in less than five minutes with them. We piled our 
things in and drove off leaving the pirate chief and 
his crew ready to hoist the black flag, and warm 
though the day was, I warrant that the temperature 
around that hotel went up several degrees in the next 
few minutes. 

We arrived safely at the wharf and had to pile 
the things aboard ourselves. We found our stateroom 
and proceeded to make ourselves as comfortable as 
circumstances would permit. 

The Tehauntepec is a steamer of about 1.100 tons. 
The cabins all open on the main dining room, and the 
berths are not comfortable looking. Ours consisted 
of four and a lounge. 

We steamed out at three, but for some reason did 
not get beyond the breakwater till after six. The 
dinner bell rang and we proceeded to the dining room 
in which were twenty-eight seats around the table, and 
apparently a passenger for each seat. The table was 
decorated with five plates in front of each seat, one on 
top of the other and the top one for soup. The meal 
was served in courses and as each course was finished 
a plate was removed and when the last one was taken 
up, you knew you had dined, though they put on some 
extra frills on this occasion by serving a fruit plate 
with bananas, chicos, zapatos and cheese. I partook 
of all the dishes served, as if T were a native, the soup 



BITS OP OLD MEXICO 49 

first, then something resembling beef stew with the 
necessary hot stuff; fish was served next, after which 
a meat dish Avith accessories. Another dish of eon- 
glomerate, and then the clean plate, fruit and cheese. 
Coffee Avas served ad lib., but butter was an unknown 
quantity. 

We remained on deck until after one in the morn- 
ing as the air was moist and clammy, which, com- 
bined with the odor of the dinner, rendered life in the 
cabin anything but a place of cold storage. 

When we finally decided to turn in, we found 
that Billie had eusconsed himself in one corner of the 
social hall above the dining room, and was loudly pro- 
claiming his entire indifference to everything on land 
or sea through the medium of a fully developed Amer- 
ican snore. 

George selected one of the upper berths to get 
away from the rats ; Dick took the lounge and I wrap- 
ped a sheet tightly around me after having removed 
my coat and shoes and tried to be comfortable in the 
lower berth, where turning over from one side to the 
other meant scraping my nose on the under side of the 
upper berth. We left the door and window open, and 
the noise wafted across the dining room from other 
open doors proclaimed the indifference of many of 
the passengers to rats or weather conditions. 

The morning found us up early, but not the first, 
as was evidenced by the single roller towel hung up 
in the wash room above two basins. The basin had 
seen much service that morning and the towel more. I 
called the steward and on request was somewhat sur- 



50 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

prised to jret a clean one. I used one-half of it and 
called Dick so that he might use the other half before 
some native £rot his face in first. 

The morning was all that could be desired. We 
walked around till about eight o'clock when I went to 
rtud out what was the matter with breakfast. The 
steward informed me that the first meal served would 
be at eleven o'clock; we could have a cup of coffee 
and a cracker if we desired. We took what was offer- 
ed and at eleven a meal almost the counterpart of the 
evening before was dished up. We took that also and 
it was our last meal aboard, as we sighted land at 
3:30 p. m., and in about an hour had the pilot on board. 
He took us over the bar and then left us to find our 
way up the river alone, a distance of about eight miles. 
We arrived safely and at 6:30 tied up at the wharf. 

FRONTERA. 

We were then taken in tow by a Chinaman. Hop 
Wah, and piloted up town to the Grand Hotel run by 
the aforesaid Hop. He spoke Spanish fluently I sup- 
pose, but had not gotten beyond the "no .sabe" in 
English. 

His hotel once belonged to the "Four Hundred" 
and Hop was proud of his establishment, which con- 
sisted of five rooms and shower bath in a one-story 
adobe building. Each room had its special interest for 
Hop. but the shower bath was his particular pride, as 
it was the only one in town. It was a dark place 
about six feet square with stone walls and floor. When 
von wanted to use it a lighted candle was furnished 



BITS OP OLD MEXICO 51 

which you placed on the floor or stuck against the 
wall, but in either case, when the water was turned 
on the candle went out. But this was of little con- 
sequence as when you had enough you let go the string 
the water stops and you make a break for the door 
and your towel. We were rather amused at the pride 
with which Hop showed this treasure, but we came to 
appreciate it as much as he did, for we found occasion 
to use it more than once a day. 

One room containing four beds was assigned to 
our party; the beds were cot-shaped and mosquito- 
netted, stretched canvas for a mattress, and a sheet for 
a covering, but the sheet was superfluous as the days 
were hot and the nights more so, if possible. But 
with all the inconveniences we liked the place on ac- 
count of the good nature of Senor Hop Wah, whose 
only desire was to please. American cooking was 
practiced in this establishment and that in itself ac- 
counted for our Pittsburg friends recommending it to 
our consideration. 

Frontera is a town of from one to six thousand 
population, depending on who is giving you the in- 
formation. I think about fifteen hundred nearer the 
mark. It has its plaza and one street about a block 
from the water front and paralleling the river. The 
houses are the usual affairs of one story, except on 
the plaza where some are two stories. The residence 
section on two sides of the square is neat and clean ; 
the windows and doors are open in the evening. Music 
can be heard in many of these homes, but the mandolin 
or guitar is noticeable by its absence for the crown- 



52 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

iiig glory of the iront room seems to be a piano, where 
it can be had. 

Fresh vefretables are at a premium in this place 
as they are all imported, and when j/reen onions can 
be had in the market, they arc sold individually and 
hrin? (|nite a price. So much are they prized, indeed, 
that when a person has partaken of them at dinner he 
makes a point of cjettinir into conversation with some 
one whom lie wants to impress with liis riches. He 
stands close up so that the smell of the onion may 
impress the otlier with his financial standing, for none 
but a millionaire can afford the luxury of a green 
onion breath. 

The two most important buildings on the plaza are 
the church and market. The church comes first in 
importance in all Mexican towns, but the market is a 
close second. 

Another peculiarity about Frontera that 1 found 
in no other town was the absence of tipping. On our 
first evening, we in company with the Pittsburgers, sat 
in front of a cantina where tables and chairs are set 
out. We had beer and other things and I tipped one 
of the waiters. A gentleman who knew the place and 
its customs told me to watch and see what the waiter 
did with the tip. I watched and he went with the bill 
and tip and rang the whole thing up on the cash reg- 
ister. I don't know how the custom of non-tipping 
started. It must have happened, I surmise, that once 
upon a time a waiter fell dead when given a tip, and 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 53 

that this became a warning to all others, for the na- 
tive is great on tradition and superstition. 

While sitting as above described, we were ap- 
proached by a gentleman who turned out to be the 
captain of the good ship Recrio that we had chartered 
to take us up the river to El Salto. During the course 
of the conversation he informed us that his vessel was 
28 feet long, six and a half feet beam, sixteen horse- 
power, and propelled by gasoline. We decided to 
start the following day, Sunday. The distance was 
180 miles or leagues — sometimes it was leagues, at 
other times, miles. 

Sunday was spent victualing the ship and getting 
other sundries in shape ; the crew of two Mexican boys 
were on shore leave and when it came time to up an- 
chor the entire crew was absent at roll call and it took 
the gallant Captain Van Horn till eleven at night to 
round them up. 

The skipper was mad clear through and the crew 
knew it. We should have sailed long ere this, he ex- 
plained to us, to get the benefit of slack water. Any- 
how, we got away. The night was beautiful. The 
moon was full. The river, about two hundred yards 
wide with thickly wooded lowland on either side. 
Steamer chairs were placed amidships, which were to 
act as seats by day and couch by night, and many 
leagues had been sailed before our chairs became 
couches. 

Daylight found us stirring but not far. The prom- 
enade deck did not compare at all favorably with 
many of the ocean liners that I have traveled on. The 



54 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

wash room was arranged on the port side of the engine 
house. Its equipment consisted of a tin basin, a piece 
of soap wrapped up in fibre, a towel and a piece of 
glass tacked up against the frame of the engine house. 

The toilet making was not so much a question of 
time as of room. We took turn about and managed 
to get the part of our face that we could see in the 
glass presentable to ourselves, at least, after which 
the towel was washed by one-half of the ship's crew 
and the laundry hung up to dry. 

Speaking of the crew, I have ju.st completed ray 
inspection and have discovered their duties and offi- 
cial stations. The crew, generally speaking, numbers 
two. all told. The junior officer was a boy of about 
sixteen barefooted summers. His duties consisted of 
steering and dish-washing, but when it was his watch 
below he cleaned the lamp, filled the oil tank, peeled 
potatoes and smoked cigarettes. 

The chief officer was a young man of about, 
twenty-two. He was chief engineer and cook ; he also 
had sundry unofficial duties to perform, such as re- 
lieving the helmsman, swearing at the junior officer 
when the captain was attending to something else, 
sharpening his pocket knife and polishing a sea bean 
for a pendant to his watch chain when he got one. 

The captain. Van Horn, was a Yankee, sir, and 
didn't care if all the greasers in the country knew it. 
He had navigated the river for twenty years and never 
took water from anyone; swore fluently in both 
English and Spanish, was tall and thin and about 
fifty years of age. A small mustache and a few strag- 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 55 

gling hairs here and there over his face which he 
shaved at the end of each voyage. One side of his 
mustache was pushed somewhat higher up than the 
other, and whether this was caused by wiping his 
'mouth on that side after he had ejected a pint of 
tobacco juice, or from habitual swearing at the crew, 
has never been thoroughly settled in my mind. He 
was rough-looking but withal, one of the best natured 
fellows a person would want to meet under like cir- 
cumstances. His duties were manj'^, even outside of 
standing perpetual watch over the crew. He would 
cook, chop v/ood, mix fancy dishes, such as ham and 
eggs, frijoles, tortillas, • chile con carne, and mystery 
(this last was a dish composed of the leavings of all the 
above), scientifically proportioned and served warm to 
the crew. 

The captain as general purveyor, was certainly 
not niggardly, for he dished out everything that he 
had in the most lavish manner. As we went along his 
eagle eye was always open for cocoanuts, oranges, or 
bananas, and he would run ashore and buy from the 
natives anything of this kind that we wished for. We 
acquired quite a taste for the milk of the green cocoa- 
nut. Our junior officer would shin up the tree like a 
monkey for a distance of twenty or thirty feet to the 
crotch of the tree Avhere the nuts grew in a bunch and 
throw them down. The captain always paid for them 
after a few sincere remarks to the owner about what 
he thought of the price. 

We landed a few times to look around some of the 
settlements and found the people good-natured and 



56 BITJS OF OLD MEXICO 

appariMitly happy. The men were dressed decollette 
liviiii l!i(' I'oel up and tlie women from the head down, 
hilt the nion's hi^h np pants and the women's low 
down dresses were li^ht and clean. Their houses 
of bamboo walls and thatcli roofs were ideal for the 
climate. Earthern floors, cane beds, some dogs and 
more children, constitute a household on the banks of 
the ririjalva or Chiapas. 

The scenery alonir the river bank was one con- 
tinuous stretch of trf)i)ieal fruit and huts. Our life 
aboard was also tropical, the mosquito causinjr the 
language to be torrid as the climate. 

We arrived at Tipititan about six in the evenint,'. 
We were to stop here all night and sleep ashore. The 
place consists of a church about fifty yards from the 
river; beyond the church a general store, a street more 
or less defined, running parallel with the river with 
houses or huts first on one side, then on the other. In 
all about twenty or so. The hotel is a stone and adobe 
affair of one large room with four doors — no windows 
for light, so that when you shut the door at night it 
becomes solitary confinement. 

The OA\'iier of this place was sent for by the cap- 
tain. He soon appeared, and in a few minutes had 
four beds placed in the room. They were cot affairs 
and were only brought in an<l put up as travel re- 
quired. 

The mosquito netting having been adjusted, the 
landlord enrjuirod of the captain if we would sup at 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 57 

his house or aboard. We were consulted and voted 
for shore delicacies. The native led the way down the 
street and we were soon in his home. 

The meal was served; it consisted of frijoles and 
a dish that I Avas unable to find a name for. It tasted 
like cocoanut chopped up fine with hard boiled eggs, 
beans and river sand. Anyhow, I onl.y tasted of it 
and contented myself with coffee and tortillas. 

I tried to settle with our host for the meal but 
couldn't find out how much he wanted; he talked too 
rapidly for us, so we took him to the boat and the 
captain; he explained that the beds were fifty cents 
each and the meals as Ave liked. I asked him if four 
dollars Avould satisfy him for all and he was more than 
pleased. This meant two dollars American for the 
accommodation of four. 

We wandered over to the store and the owner saw 
us coming, for the price of everj'-thing advanced about 
one hundred per cent. We ordered beer and paid his 
price, but that was the last transaction we had with 
him, for had he sold us a dozen pints at the price he 
wanted, he could have retired and loaned money to 
the balance of the natives, or taken a trip to El Salto 
at the head of navigation. 

The night was perfect as only night can be in 
this region. I saw the Southern cross for the first 
time; watched it rise above the horizon, the stars 
not forming a true cross till about one or two in the 
morning, when it seemed to be in an upright position 
and was certainly a thing of beauty. About two a. m. 
I invaded the gloom. My friends had retired earlier. 



58 BITS OP OLD MEXICO 

I lit the candle and proceeded to inspect my bed by 
pulling the mostiuito netting open. The g:rass mattinjr 
tliat took the place of canvas in the cot smelled to 
heaven. The perspiration of twenty tribes of wander- 
ing nomads was concentrated in every mesh antl fibre 
of its composition. 

I had alcohol and camphor in a bottle which I 
carried for rubbing on mosquito and other bites. I 
poured about half the contents on the bed hoping to 
quiet the noiseome smell. I spread the sheet-like cov- 
ering over the thing, and blowing out the candle, 
without a thought of my soul, bestowed all my 
thoughts and nij' body to the keeping of my perfumed 
bed, the mosquitos and utter darkness. The fumes 
of the alcohol must have had a soothing effect for 
when I awoke it was to find the light coming in 
through all the doors, and Billie and George in a heat- 
ed argument about the age of the church just beyond. 

I hastily made my toilet ; there was water and a 
basin but neither soap nor towel but fortunately we 
had these with us. When I got outside I found Dick 
in the mysteries of a Tipititan sawmill. It consisted 
of four upright posts and crossbars, on top of which 
rested a log. How it got there I did not find out. The 
log was Spanish cedar or mahogany and squared. The 
number of planks or boards to be sawed was marked 
off all the way along on top and bottom. One man 
stands on top and one below, and with a double-handed 
saw, cuts it into the required thickness. This is the 
method employed in all small settlements. 

We unanimously agreed that breakfast should be 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 59 

served on board and so informed the captain who had 
come up the hill to find out how we had slept. The 
crew packed our things to the boat and we started on 
our way while breakfast was being prepared by the 
chief engineer. We all enjoyed our morning meal 
and settled down to our steady employment of mos- 
quito fighting. The New Jersey product may have 
been all right in its day but the finished article as we 
found it is none of your weakling transplanted sting- 
ers, but the real vampire of Old Mexico, still retain- 
ing the blood of the Montezumas which was mixed 
very liberally with ours, and while, no doubt, it shoula 
have been considered a great honor we protested 
against the medium through which the fusion took 
place. So large are the mosquitos on the river Ton- 
ola, which we branched into about noon, that we im- 
agined we could see them wink the other eye as we 
made a swat at one and missed. 

About four o'clock we landed at a place called 
Santa Cruz Bueno Vista to get eggs and give us an 
opportimity to stretch our legs and have a change in 
the brand of mosquitos. The population at this place 
is exactly sixty-two according to the statement made 
by the oldest inhabitant, and I believe him, for I think 
most of them were present. The children -w^ere in the 
majority. 

A custom prevails among the natives in this part 
of the country of putting the children into clothes at 
a certain age but most of them we saw were minors, 
and consequently had not been dressed in their coming 
out raiment. We had them lined up and photograph- 



60 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

ed. We also took -^Toups of tlie «rroAvii-ups and were 
invited in and inspected their homes, which were ap- 
parently well kept. They were a happy, contented 
looking; p;")i)le, antl when we returned to the boat 
the entire colony assembled on the bank and "adios 
aminos" could be heard and the waving of their 
hands could be seen till we turned a bend in the river. 
A great fandango will be held toniglit in their en- 
deavor to spend the money given to the youngsters 
by the Americanos. 

The scenery continued good on either side of the 
river, the banks never rising higher than twenty feet 
at any point. 

We met many natives iu their dug-outs, and it was 
marvelous how they managed them and the loads they 
carried. 

About 6:30 in the evening our attention was at- 
tracted by the yelling of a couple of natives on our 
starboard bow (I think that is nautically correct). 
They were so earnest in their yells and gestures that I 
came to the conclusion that something terrible had 
happened in the river below, but when our captain x* 
shot a few blank phrases across their bow, we brought 
about and after exchanging signals, the captain or- 
dered the course changed, and in a few minutes we had 
swung into a little basin and a landing where we found 
assembled waiting for us our agent and the owner of 
a plantation where we were to spend the night. 

After introductions we ascended the hill to a 
house overlooking the river. It was prettily situated 
and contained large comfortable furnished rooms, in< 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 61 

eluding a dining room into which we were ushered, 
and immediately proceeded to feel very much at hom« 
in the enjoyment of what I considered the best meal 
we had since our advent into Mexico. The cooking was 
American, or more properly speaking, English, for Mr. 
Markley was English — decidedly so — and an excellent 
host. 

The evening was spent very pleasantly. We all 
smoked, which seemed to have a discouraging effect 
on the mosquito delegation that waited on us in the 
hope of cultivating an international entente and wiping 
out all racial differences to the end that we might re- 
ceive the same distinguished consideration as citizens 
of the most favored nations. This diplomatic condi- 
tion of affairs lasted only while we smoked the pipe 
of peace, for when we retired we found that the polite 
mosquito delegate of the sitting room had put the 
whole union on to where we were supposed to sleep, 
and instead of proclaiming a boycott on us proceeded 
in initiate us into the mysteries of interdependence, or 
how one is dependent on the other for most of the 
necessities of life and all the luxuries. The ceremony 
was one-sided and long-winded and consisted chiefly 
of music and sting. The song of the mosquito attracts 
the attention of all the finer hearing faculties better 
than that of any other winged songster I can recall. 
With hand upraised and ears strained to the finest 
tension you wait, knowing that the end of the song 
means the beginning of operations. The sensation of 
a downy caress on the cheek or forehead is followed 
bv a contraction of the muscles of the fore-arm. your 



62 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

hand and face come in contact. Perhaps you have 
killed a mosquito; if not. the tantalizinir music is re- 
sumed and the rise and fall of each note seems to leave 
an anp:ered disappointment and the only word in your 
vocabulary available that comes to yonr mind, outside 
of unprintable matter is the word "stun?. " Thus the 
irame goes on till the mosquito wearies of the game, or 
becomes so tired of the blood relationship that it must 
need take a rest itself, for as the blood of the human 
being is to the mosquito an intoxicant, it has by this 
time acquired an elegant jag. everyone becomes happy 
and you sink to sleep like the mosquito without reck- 
oning on the pain that tomorrow has in store. 

Next morning we were up early and had a break- 
fast that we had anticipated in our dreams. It was all 
that could be desired and Ave did it justice, as it would 
be a memory, and its e(iual far ahead in anticipation. 

Mr. Markley showed us over his plantation the 
products of which were varied. Coffee, bananas, 
vanilla and practically all the fruits of a tropical 
country, but time and our mule drivers were calling, 
so we proceeded to the boat, and after good-bys to our 
ho.st were soon on our way across the river where 
saddle horses and mules awaited. In the meantime, 
the captain was to take our good ship the "Recrio" to 
Fil Salto and wait for orders. 

ON THE ROAD. 

Mr. Branchley our agent assigned us to the land 
craft according to build. I drew a horse with a Mexi- 
can saddle into which I fitted fore and aft with such 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 63 

exact nicety that once inserted the horse would have 
to stand on his hind lesrs and a pry used before we 
coukl have been separated. George got a horse with 
an English saddle; Dick and Billie got mules and 
Mexican saddles, two pack mules and tM'O Mexican 
guides for servants, mounted, completed the outfit. 
The word was given and we were off on a twenty-five 
mile ride to the finca or plantation of San Carlos. 

In the course of about half an hour I discovered 
that whoever OAvned the saddle that I belonged to, had 
artistic propensities, for the pommel was decorated 
Avith a round metal button somewhat larger than a 
dollar, and when trotting became the command the 
aforesaid metal button cultivated such an intimate 
association with my abdomen that I became painfully 
aware of its presence. I mean the metal button or on 
second thought, both. 

We were traveling in single file as the road was 
only a trail. It led through forest and shade or bare 
spots and blazing sun, over swale land, and corduroy 
made passage way over the frail bridges, where one 
at a time was the rule, down arroyas and up hills. 
We finally brought up at a plantation known as the 
Mahaguey, where we were detained, through the de- 
sire of George's horse to explore the interior of the 
stable and which resulted in him getting his ankle 
badly sprained. We had now been out two hours and 
had accomplished some four miles. A drink of water 
and cinching more tightly our belts and the horses' 
girths, we plodded on our way, and in the course of an 
hour or so arrived at the plantation, Filidelfi, presided 



64 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

over by a yoiin<i; American named Dussell. who gave 
us a hearty welcome and botthnl l)eer. which, for the 
time beinir, made us forj^et our present misery and the 
distance ahead. 

A respite of about half an hour, and I was again 
fitted into the saddle of which I was rapidly becom- 
ing a part. Billie's horse by this time had developed 
a strong desire to feed on anything in the shape of 
vegatation, and Dick's a disregard for the switch 
that was to mark their peculiarities during the whole 
trip. George's foot had become swollen and painful, 
which, added to the smallness of the stirrup, caused 
him all sorts of annoyance. 

My horse was a good goer and my only trouble 
was the fit of the saddle. The sun got higher and so 
did the temperature. The perspiration about this 
time had found its way through our khaki clothing, 
and the beauty of the forest, if it had any. was lost 
in the close attention re(|uired to keep the animals 
on the straight and narrow p.Tth. Conversation ceas- 
ed to be very edifying, and became snappy and ad- 
dressed to no one in particular; still it was emphatic 
enough at times, especially when a horse stumbled, or 
an insistent mosquito presented its little bill. 

A stop was made once in a while, when we would 
reach a shade tree after being blistered by the sun. or 
when something Avent wrong with the pack mules. 

BetAveen twelve and one we arrived at the 
"Iowa," another plantation managed by a Russ-Ger- 
man, by the name of Schmidt. We liad bt-en expected. 




an 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 65 

and the reception we received was hearty and whole- 
souled. 

Mr. Schmidt was an ideal host, and the luxuries 
spread before us for lunch were marvelous, considering 
the location. "We had fresh mutton, potatoes, butter 
and cream. Then there was beer and cigars on the 
veranda, and to cap the climax a servant placed glasses 
on a small table, and wonder of wonders, started to 
open champagne. 

Our coming and Mr. Schmidt's birthday happen- 
ing on the same day seems to have been the cause of all 
the reckless extravagance and was not to be considered 
an every day occurrence, although it could happen 
twice a year as Mr. Schmidt explained, he having been 
born in Russian territory and the Russian and German 
calendar not working on the same schedule, gave him 
two birthdays in the same year. I don't remember 
when his next birthday occurs, but I do know that I 
could have wished it were tomorrow and I invited to 
remain and help celebrate. 

This finca is in a very advanced state of cultiva- 
tion. The rubber trees are many years old and pro- 
ducing well, and I sighed to think that ours was sit- 
uated so far away, and wondered at the inconsistency 
of providence in not placing it somewhere in the im- 
mediate vicinity. 

My reverie was rudely disturbed by the announce- 
ment that the animals were saddled and ready. I had 
my horse brought around where I could mount it from 
an old log, George had to be assisted to his saddle, 
his foot having become so painful that he could 



66 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

scarcely walk. Billie and Dick were hypocrites enough 
to make believe that they felt all riprht but the gin- 
gerly manner in which they took their seats belied 
their affected indifference. 

We had now some ten miles ahead of us and not 
a siii<rle stopping place to look forward to before we 
reached the San Francisco, wliich, we wore told we 
would pass through some four hundred yards this side 
of our destination. 

We thanked our host for his entertainment and 
never were thanks more truly spoken, for if ever there 
was a lifesaving station, the finca of Towa and its gen- 
ial manager filled the bill. 

We trudged along much as we had done hereto- 
fore; Dick's switch having become a stick, and Billie's 
remarks about his mount and things in general kept 
pace with the torrid condition of the climate. Poor 
George, remembering his early bringing up. tried to 
suppress his feelings, except on occassions when his 
foot would get caught in trailing vines or brush; then 
nature would assert itself, and George would have 
been sent home from his Sunday school had he used 
the same kind of language to his teacher that he did 
to his horse. It is unnecessary to record the fact that 
I suffered in silence, remembering the uncertainty of 
life and the belief in a great hereafter — but why go 
through it all over again. Everything has an end, 
although at times ours seemed more certain than the 
journey. 

In the course of time, about seven o'clock in the 
evening, we entered a clearing: then the rubber trees. 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO &7 

and soon broii'iht up -it the headquarters of the planta- 
tion San Francisco, beyond which could be seen our 
own headquarters. But avc must rest and get refresh- 
ed before .ittemptinu even the short distance that in- 
tervened, as the sight of a humfin habitation was too 
much to pass. The manager v\^as there to welcome us; 
his men took charge of our horses and traps after we 
had separated ourselves from the saddle, and I must 
say I never Avas so intimately associated with one be- 
fore and never so glad to dissolve partnership. When 
I alighted <'r rather when I slid down, I held onto the 
horse for a minute, as my legs could scarcely support 
my body. T then hobbled to a seat and prayed for the 
privilege of standing. I lay down at full length on my 
back, but was reminded in spots of the saddle. T 
turned over and was then reminded of the pommel. 
I finally got on my feet and got my legs in motion, 
and after taking a few turns around the veranda, was 
able to ask for a glass of water. 

This praeticall.y describes the feeling of the whole 
party with the exception of Mr. Branchley, who is 
used to that sort of thing. George, perhaps, suffered 
more than any one else and had to be carried to a 
seat, his foot having become so swollen and painful 
that he could not put it on the ground without great 
pain. We took off his shoe and bandaged him as best 
we could, and left him there for the night as it was 
impossible for him to go even the short distance to our 
headquarters. We sent our horses ahead and walked, 
as the thoughts of the saddle conjured up unpleasant 
feelings. 



68 BITS OP OLD MEXICO 

THE FINCA. 

Our place, or as it is known, the "St. Carlos" 
headquarters, is about three hundred yards from that 
of the San Francisco, down hill half way and up hill 
the balance. The house itself is picturesque, and I 
would let it go at that, but candor compels me to rob it 
of some of its glory. It sits or stands on a little knoll 
facing North ; on the South is the forest ; on the East, 
the Rio Meshole and the plantation; the West the space 
separating us from our neighbor. The house has two 
front rooms, one on either side of the hall, which leads 
into one large room or back porch, as it is open on 
the side, at the West end of which is the fire place, 
the usual Mexican affair about two feet six inches 
from the floor of stones and dirt, flat on top, and 
three or four feet square. The fire is built either of 
wood or charcoal, depending on which you have. It 
was wood in this case. 

Pots and pans are propped up on stones. There 
is no flue, the smoke finding its way an^'Avhere the wind 
blows it; and by the way, our fireplace was about as 
respectable as the average, for Mexico has the distinc- 
tion of not having a chimney in the country, with the 
single exception of the town of Real del Monte. 

Our house had walls of bamboo about ten feet 
high and from one to tw-o inches thick. The air had 
free access between the bamboo poles which were 
laced together with some vegetable fibre. At the top 
was a frame-work of wood to which the outside walls 
were attached. The roof was very steep in pitch and 
thatched with the leaf of the guano plant, and 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 69 

over a foot thick. It ran down on a light frame-work 
over what was intended to be a veranda some day, 
but which at present was the ground, enclosed by a 
bamboo fence. 

The furniture had better be left to the imagina- 
tion. Suffice it to say that at meal time we had suffi- 
cient dishes and plates for the menu and at night a 
cot each in which to sleep, but should one of the family 
of cats get after any of the colony of rats in the roof, 
then all was not peace and sleep. This happened on 
our first night. 

Dick and I had retired and thought when we clos- 
ed the mosquito netting which canopied the cots that it 
would require Gabriel's trumpet to wake us when once 
asleep. Mr. Branchley occupied the room across the 
hall and had been carrying on a conversation with us 
while we were preparing to retire. A lull in the con- 
versation was followed by a noise of something falling, 
accompanied by squealing, and most unearthly yelling 
on the part of Branchley. We thought he had been 
attacked by some wild animal or reptile and hastened 
to his room to find a large cat with a rat about half as 
big as itself, and at first it was impossible to tell which 
one had the other. The cat was growling, if a cat 
can growl and the rat was squealing. The question of 
possession was soon settled when the cat made a 
spring up one of the posts of the house with the rat 
and disappeared in the thatch of the roof. When 
Branchley regained his composure, he explained that 
just as he was about to get into bed the rat jumped 
from the roof on top of his mosquito canopy, and from 



70 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

there to liis .shoulder, the cat following from the roof 
taking' the same course and catching the rat in the far 
corner oi" the room. 

After the excitement had somewhat abated we re- 
turned to our room, and wished that the canopy cov- 
ering our beds had been made stronger ; but, as the 
floor was about as dangerous, we made the best of it 
and again crawled into bed. 

The following morning iomul us, if possible, more 
tired and sore, but we were scheduled to look over 
part of the plantation, so we dressed and after making 
brealcfast on eggs and tortillas, went over to find out 
how George was getting along, and also to pick up 
Billie who had remained to take care of him. We 
found George not able to get up. and Billie, like our- 
selves, sore in mind, body and estate, but off we start- 
ed, leaving George in the care of some of the natives. 

We tramped up hill and down, through under- 
brush — sometimes on a trail, but most of the time by 
direction. We visited the trees of different growth, 
the places cleared for planting and places to be clear- 
ed, till the sun became so hot that we were compelled 
to make for the headquarters, where we arrived more 
dead than alive, our interest in rubber for the time 
being having oozed out of us at every pore of our 
bodies. 

Wo rested the remainder of the day and in the 
evening were so far recovered that we listened to 
Branchley, telling us how it happened, and thereby 
gained a fund of information on {ho cultivation of 
rubber. 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 71 

RUBBER. 

It seems that rubber was first brought to notice 
something over five hundred years ago by one Her- 
rera who noticed that the natives of Hayti played a 
game with rubber balls made from the gum of a tree : 
then it is noticed in Mexico in the 17th century, where 
the natives collected the milk-like gum and smeared 
it on the body and rubbed it off when dry. Since then 
it has been found in many countries in a belt extending 
some 500 miles on either side of the equator. 

The 19th century, how^ever, saw the first real 
interest in the manufacture of the product of the rub- 
ber tree and the demand so great that up to the pres- 
ent time the supply has never equalled the demand. 
This condition of affairs is responsible for the planting 
of the trees in countries where soil and climatic condi- 
tions show the best result. The Para rubber of South 
America has always been considered the best. Cen- 
tral America sends a good quality from Guatemala 
and the South of Mexico has lately shown that an ex- 
cellent article is cultivated over a wide territory in 
that country. 

The Mexican rubber tree is grown from a seed of 
small oblong shape planted in the ground about two 
inches deep and ten feet apart, and attains commercial 
groM^th in from five to seven years, depending on loca- 
tion. The principal labor in caring for the trees be- 
tween the planting and tapping time consists of keep- 
ing down the undergrowth for the first two years 



72 B1T« OP OLD MEXICO 

and preventing creeping vines from entwining them- 
selves around the young plant and choking it. 

Sometimes a nursery is planted and after one or 
more years the young tree is transplanted, but it 
seems the seed gives the best results, as quite a loss is 
sustained through transplanting. 

The IMcxican variety does not grow as large as the 
Para, but is still a good size, running from eight inches 
to one or two feet in diameter, and from twenty to 
fifty feet high. The leaf is large, tapering at both 
ends, from five to seven inches across at the widest 
and from twelve to eighteen inches long. 

When the tree is ready for tapping a knife with 
an adjustable tongue or blade regulated by a screw, is 
set for the depth of cut required ; the tapper then pro- 
ceeds to make one long cut or score straight down the 
tree from below the branches to within a short distance 
of the ground. He then cuts from the back of the tree 
a groove at an angle of about forty-five degrees 
and ending in the perpendicular cut, continuing these 
cuts at a distance of about eight inches. This opera- 
tion is repeated on the other side, the scorings on the 
back of the tree overlapping each other about an inch 
or so. The cut or score is about a quarter of an inch 
wide and the depth according to the thickness of the 
bark. 

A tree can be injured and the rubber spoiled in 
(juality by wrong tapping, the milk or rubber flow 
comes from under the first bark, and should the sec- 
ond or delicate covering of the tree be penetrated a 
black gum is exuded thai spoils the rubber and saps 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 73 

the life of the tree. A cup is adjusted to the bottom of 
the upright cut for the reception of the milk. When 
the flow has ceased, the rubber that has hardened in 
the cut is peeled off and this is the end of its yielding 
for six months. The first year's tapping will give an 
average of four ounces per tree; the second year's tap- 
ping, about a pound ; the third, three-quarters, and the 
fourth and subsequent j-ears, one pound, or more, and 
the life of its productiveness has not yet been deter- 
mined. 

Rubber cultivation, like gold-raining, has its little 
difficulties. The high grader of the gold mine has his 
counterpart in the night prowler of the rubber plan- 
tation, for with rubber at the present market value, 
the robbing of the cups would be a profitable busi- 
ness, so that this crime on a plantation is looked upon 
as highway robbery. 

TO PALENQUE. 

The following day we completed our inspection 
of the finca, with more interest and greater effort. 
We rested up another day before getting ready for 
our start to the ruins of Palenque. We must be grow- 
ing stale or something, for the mosquitos did not pay 
the same attention to us last night that they have 
done heretofore. 

Breakfast was ready when we were, and after 
partaking plentifully of the choicest dishes the planta- 
tion afforded, we made a start. Our animals were 
waiting across the river and we were ferried over in a 
dug-out. I was pleased to find that my horse Avas 



74 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

decorated with an English saddle. It was George's. 
whose sprained ankle prevented him accompanying us. 
I was very sorry for George but the thought of my 
luck in jrettin;:: his saddle and escaping the tortures I 
liad undergone in the j\Iexican affair into which I had 
formerly been fitted, reconciled me somewhat to the 
condition of affairs and the pain that he must neces- 
sarily endure. 

The distance to the village of Palenque was some- 
what over twenty miles, and about nine miles farther 
to the ruins. The road or trail might be a continua- 
tion of our last as far as direction and difficulties were 
concerned. The trail had been overgrown at places 
and had to be cleared away by the raachettes of the 
Mozos, and a person not seeing it. would scarcely 
credit the wonderfully rapid growth of forest or 
jungle. This trail had not been used for a few months 
and we found obstructions across our path consisting 
of matted and twisted rope-like vines around branches 
of trees in such a net-Avork that I would not have 
credited that a trail could be found again by cutting 
and slashing through the growth for the distance of a 
few yards. 

The jungle, to a person without the necessary and 
ever-present Mexican side-arm, Avould be impene- 
trable and the making of a trail like the present one, 
through this country, is far from being child's play. 
This machette is a very useful tool or weapon, just as 
necessity requires. It is sword-like but somewhat 
heavier. It will cut down a small tree or a man. It 
will clear the entangling undergrowth, chop kindling 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 75 

wood for a fire, cut hafton or tap a rubber tree. A 
native in the tropics without it would be almost as 
useless as if he were separated from his cigarette, and 
without a cigarette a Mexican is bereft of all interest in 
existence — present or future. 

Let me see. I am wandering somewhat in my 
record but this digression was caused by an obstruc- 
tion in our path, and it was while observing the gentle- 
man under consideration clearing the way that the 
thoughts above recorded presented themselves. The 
thought and the clearing came to an end at the same 
time and we journeyed along fairly well until going 
over an old bridge, single file, my horse broke through 
with his front feet, throwing me off. I landed — if 
that language can be used for falling on the bridge. 
I lit on my side and rolled out of the w^ay, so that the 
horse in his struggles to get out of the hole, would 
not trj' to reverse the order of things by getting on me. 
Fortunately^ neither of us were seriously injured, and 
we resumed our relative positions after a physical ex- 
amination by the entire party. 

We had trudged along for some hours, when we 
were met by a Mr. Plant, manager of the San Leandro 
Finca. He turned back with us and we spent a pleas- 
ant half hour at his place. His wife and family are 
with him, and they had quite a collection of tropical 
birds, some of them larger than parrots and of beau- 
tiful plumage. Mrs. Plant would have made lunch 
for us but the time could not be spared, so we com- 



76 lUT!? OP OLD MEXICO 

promised by borrowing a loaf of bread and two tins 
of canned meat of some kind. 

This place is in an advanced state of cultivation 
and results in the rubber crop were anticipated this 
season, as the trees in many parts of the plantation 
had attained the required age and growth. Our 
horses were made ready and we again took up the 
white man's burden — or the horses did. I began to 
feel the effects of my fall by a painful reminder in my 
left side, but I kept up with the procession; indeed, 
sometimes ahead of it, for by this time Dick had used 
up three saplings on his horse without getting any 
response so far as increased speed was concerned and 
had borrowed one of Branchley's spurs, hoping by its 
application to impress the animal with the necessity 
of getting a move on. Billie's horse still continued 
its browsing tactics and kept behind Dick's, knowing 
that it would escape all the blame, and incidentally 
ac(}uire a meal through its many pick-ups along the 
route, but Billie was uot happy. The stirrup was too 
small for his large boot and the saddle was disagree- 
able in places. The unexpected stops of his mount and 
its desire to resume only when it had consumed all 
the available feed in sight, put him in no enviable 
mood. The horse evidently did not understand Eng- 
lish; at least, as Billie handed it out, and there seemed 
to be established between them a mutual indifference 
for the comfort and well-being of each other. 

The pack mules and their drivers seemed to get 
along all right, but one of the mules had the feeding 
propensities of Billie's horse and would sometimes get 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 77 

off the trail for a choice bite of some succulent foliage 
and when reminded to move on would bump against a 
tree and trot along with perfect indifference. So in- 
different did it become that on one occassion it caused 
trouble by trying to get between two trees and spilling 
its pack, thereby endangering our borrowed loaf of 
bread. 

This nearly catastrophe reminded us that we had 
better find a place suitable for dividing the food stuff. 
We soon came to a long bridge over a river. We 
crossed and tying the horses in the shade sought shel- 
ter under the bridge close to the water and proceeded 
to divide up the staff of life and investigate the con- 
tents of the can the good lady had so kindly supplied 
us with. Many opinions were expressed as to what it 
was, but I have never found out whether it was veal, 
beef, pork or chicken, each one having his own opin- 
ion on the question; but it was agreed that whatever 
it might be it was good, and Ave all enjoyed it accord- 
ingly. We saved about half of the loaf for future 
reference and one can of the — whatever it was — as we 
were not sure about our next hotel. 

When we were preparing to start, we found that 
a thunder storm was threatening. Clouds had formed 
behind us, distant thunder could be heard and the 
lightning began to play, but still we were in good, but 
very heavy weather. We tried to move more rapidly 
in the hopes of escaping the storm. 

Our trail entered a prairie-like country or graz- 
ing land, about the only open country we had seen. 
There must have been about three or four miles of this 



78 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

character of country and no evidence of it having been 
cleared by fire or machette. 

Branchley. Dick and I outdistanced the others on 
account of our mounts, some unforeseen reason having 
inspired Dick's horse to keep in the running. T think 
it must have been the spur that had been transferred 
to his h*ft foot ; anyhow, the storm changed from be- 
hind us to the right, and back and forth, but getting 
closer and closer all the time. Our prairie land came 
to an end and Ave entered the jungle again. Soon 
another clearing, and again forest. We waited for 
some little time for the rear guard but not seeing 
them pushed on. We had crossed the prairie land by 
following a line of telegraph or telephone poles, be- 
lieving that we could not go wrong in doing so, but 
after a mile or so of forest we emerged again in a 
clearing and straight ahead of us was a hacienda. 

We rode up to the gate and found a gentleman on 
the porch of the hoiise. He addressed us in English, 
and when we inquired the way to Palenque he inform- 
ed us that we would have to go back through the 
woods for half a mile: then turn to the left, cross an 
arroyo and we would be right at the village of Palen- 
que. 

We turned back and Avended our way toward the 
storm that had been following us. and on emerging 
from the woods, ran right into the rain, and such rain ; 
one minute wet us so thoroughly that it became n 
matter of indifference how long it rained after. 

We had ponchos, biit they were on the pack 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 79 

mules, and, the drivers knowing the way, had probably 
taken the right trail ; at all events, they were not with 
us, so Ave made the best of it and trotted along till we 
found the arroyo, crossing it we reached the village 
in about ten minutes, and found the balance of our 
party under the shelter of an old barn, waiting oar 
arrival. 

We inquired at a general store as to hotel ac- 
commodations, and learned that there was no regular 
hotel, but that Mr. Somebody on the plaza took in any 
stranger that came along and wanted a night's lodg- 
ing. We were made welcome, Branchley negotiating 
for the party as he spoke the language. 

Our horses were taken care of by the drivers, 
and we by the hostess, in the absence of her father, 
who, it developed was the government care taker of 
the ruins. 

Our clothing, thoroughly soaked, and not a change 
of raiment compelled us to let them dry on our bodies 
which was acomplished without any bad results. 

The rain and thunder seemed determined to give 
us a truly tropical welcome and it was no dry greet- 
ing. I have seen rain, and heard of cloud bursts but 
the present was the greatest continuous downpour 
that I ever witnessed, and it was no matinee, for, 
though the thunder and lightning seemed to have 
other engagements, the rain had taken a liking to our 
company and kept it up during the night and we were 
informed that six inches of rain was the record for 
the twelve hours following our arrival. 

It was noon the day following before we had an 



80 BITS OK OLD MEXICO 

opportunity of lookin<r over the village, and then, 
only between showers, still it didn't take long to see 
all that was on exhibition. 

The shed, under which we found our party yes- 
terday, was the corner, and most of one side of the 
plaza. The sreneral store in the next an^le. and in the 
center but farther up the hill (for the plaza was not 
level) stood the village church. The schoolhouse oc- 
cupied another side all to itself, and the lower end 
was where the main street began or ended. This 
with its one story houses on either side. 

The post office was located on this street and the 
post man arrived on horseback while we were there, 
but where he came from or where he went to, I did 
not ascertain. 

The church was locked up, but we were inter- 
ested in two tablets of stone built into the front walls 
on either side of the door. They were from the ruins, 
and covered with curious markings and figures. These 
tablets have been written about and described by 
Stevens Prescott and others. Here is one description 
by Senor Don Ramon : 

"In the facade of the building, on either side of 
the entrance, is a strange figure — one has a headdress 
of leaves and flowers and has a trumpet, from which 
exudes flames and smoke, from the shoulders hangs a 
tiger skin, adorned with a snake, a bird and other 
devices with bracelets on the arms and feet. The 
other figure has a complicated adornment of the head 
composed of plumes, with the sacred bird El Cavilan, 
the sparrow hawk holding a fish in its beak. The 




o- 
(1. 



BITS OP OLD MEXICO 81 

other adornments are a tigers' head and a f?rotesque 
figure with other gravings. Over both figures are 
various hieroglyphics." 

These tablets had been lying around the village 
before they found a resting place in the front of the 
church. 

The population of Palenque is about one thousand, 
and that is being liberal. 

There are no buildings of marked age or appear- 
ance and it is strange that some enterprising individ- 
ual has not, ere this, builded a hotel for the comfort 
of even the few who go out of their way to visit the 
very much underestimated ruins of Palenque. 

The weather conditions did not improve much 
but we made up our minds to start the following day 
rain or shine, and it did both, but agreeable to our de- 
termination, we set forth about nine a. m. taking in 
addition to our two native servants, a young boy from 
the house in which we stopped as a guide. 

The trail or road was through a forest for nine 
miles, the trees were of larger growth than any we had 
seen in the country heretofore. 

The ground was slippery from the rain and the 
country though level in the main, had many places of 
very steep grade, and riding up or down stairs in 
comparison would seem the merest child's play. 

On going down such grades to the rivers, the 
horse would brace himself and literally slide down, 
and on ascending the opposite bank after fording the 
stream, we braced ourselves by taking hold of the 
horses' mane, leaning on his neck and urging him by 



82 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

switch or spur to mount the j;rade. It miji:ht seem 
strange that in these places we did not dismount, but 
the ground was in such condition that walking was al- 
most out of the question. The immediate approach 
to the niins is the steepest ascent, and as the path 
was rocky we did dismount, and after an effort gained 
the summit, and were in sight of a small settlement 
of Indians who are permitted to cultivate the clearing 
on the river bank close to the ruins. These Indians 
are under the direction of the care taker, but neither 
care taker nor Indians took the slightest interest in 
our visit. 

THE RUINS. 
Following through the settlement, the first thing 
that attracted our attention was the outlet of an aque- 
duct, about ten feet wide and below the ground level; 
the masonry could be seen some distance on either side 
before we arrived at the place where it was covered 
over. A volume of water like a river (in fact it was a 
river) flowed from someAvhere in the ground but how 
far the masonry work extended or Avhere the water 
came from, has not yet been determined. The water 
was clear and eold, though the day was exceedingly 
close and rainy, yet no evidence of muddiness from 
the previous day's rain was in the water. 

A hundred yards farther along Avas the first of the 
ruins, but we did not devote much time to it, as it 
was pretty badly demolished. 

A somewhat winding palli brought us in full 
view of a number of buildings, each one occupying a 



BITS OP OLD MEXICO 83 

hill or pyramid of its owu. The guide led iis to what 
Avas known as "The Palace." We paused to take a gen- 
eral look at it before elimbin«r up to inspect the in- 
terior. The hill, or mound on which it stands was 
some fifty or sixty feet high and looked as if it might 
have been made with sloping sides of rock or earth. 
There must have been steps up the sides of the build- 
ing sometime but we failed to find them and so clamb- 
ered up the loose rock and into the building. We 
wandered all over it from basement to roof. The 
basement consists of passageways reached by a half 
closed entrance from the ground floor. These pas- 
sageways were of different sizes, some about three feet 
wide and six feet in the clear and one five or six feet 
wide and the same head room. The smaller passages 
ran at right angles to the large one. Carvings in 
these passages were plentiful. At the end of the larg- 
est one a slab of stone about eighteen inches above 
the floor and four feet by six feet on top, looked as if 
it might have been a couch or table for prisoner or 
recluse. Bats swarmed these corridors, and we ran 
the risk of being struck by them as they flew by, or 
getting our candles put out by their wings. The main 
floor only suggests Avhat the building may have been. 
There remains a corridor about eight feet wide, that T 
suppose ran the whole length of the building. The 
outer walls of this corridor has openings or arch-ways 
ten feet wide, built on piers eight feet wide and four 
feet thick. The inner wall of this corridor was 
mostly solid, being broken only by openings on an in- 
ner corridor or an altar or shrine. The roof of the cor- 



84 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

ridor was formed by corbelinir the flat stones a few 
inches each course on either side of the walls until 
they reached within about six inches of meeting, then 
a flat stone was laid across overlappintr about six 
inches. The corbel on the outside of the buildinir act- 
ed as a cornice. The stones seemed to be irregailar 
in thickness, some only two inches and othei-s four, 
six or eisrht, and solid without any apparent cleavapre. 
It probably had been formed by irrejrular deposits, 
for its bed surface was as smooth as if cut with a 
knife. It was a li^ht fawn in color, and looked as 
though it might stand for very delicate carving. 
About a dozen rooms, some fair sized and other cell- 
like places occupied part of the main floor. 

On the northeast side of the corridor an opening 
led to an inner passage, across which could be seen a 
large court that appeared to be about one hundred 
feet square. The floor of this court veas on the level 
of that of the vaults and was reached by a flight of 
five stone steps, each step fifteen inches rise, twelve 
inch tread and thirty feet long. On the opposite side 
of the court a second flight of .steps, though not so 
wide, led into another corridor. On either side of the 
main steps large slabs of stone were erected along 
the wall on the rake of the stairs, and on these slabs 
were carved figures of men and hieroglyphics. This 
court may have been used as a bath or arena ; the steps 
were surely never built for getting in and out of the 
court only, but rather. I imagine, for people to sit or 
stand on, for the purpose of watching whatever was 
taking place below. The opposite wall as high as the 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 85 

steps, was covered Avith carved tablets, but I could 
see no evidence of there ever having been a roof on 
this part of the building. Across a corridor at the toji 
of the opposite flight of steps, is another court, but 
not so large. A third, from which rose a tower, and 
on the roof adjoining this third court a tree of immense 
size is growing; its roots imbedded in the accumula- 
tion of rocks and dirt of centuries and as if not satisfi- 
ed with the stability of the roof for its roots it has 
sent them down the walls alongside of an opening 
which it spanned and buried them solidly in the earth 
below. 

A kind of sanctum sanctorum faces on the main 
corridor. It is eight feet by six feet with a four-foot 
opening. The walls are carved with curious markings, 
and at either side, though not connected, is a cell-like 
room. This altar room or whatever it may have been, 
faces the open space below and could be seen by the 
people on the porch or the grounds and may have 
been a place of royal station. This building is with- 
out arch, in fact there is not an arch in any of the 
buildings, the openings being covered over either by 
corbel or lintel. The corbels and walls are covered 
with a stucco or plaster and presented a fairly smooth 
surface. We could have devoted more time to this 
building but we were anxious to visit some of the 
others. 

Directly east, and about one hundred and fifty 
yards distant from the porch where we entered, and on 
top of a hill stood another but smaller temple and we 
took advantage of a lull in the rain to make our way 



mi BITS OK OLD MEXICO 

across. This builclin}; shows more clearly than the 
others its general outlines. It was of a different style, 
being two stories high, the openings below being 
formed by corbeling. Tlie upper story not occupy- 
ing so much space as the ground tioor, but resting 
on inner walls and presenting a more artistic effect. 
It may have been for the female portion of the family, 
if females ever lived there or it may have been for a 
watch tower. The lower story was approached from 
the northwest by climbing up over rocks and slippery 
earth. The entrance faced west and consisted of a 
corridor in the inner wall of which was a shrine or 
altar, and on the walls, where not broken were tablets 
covered with markings. A vault or basement could be 
seen, but we did not go below. 

The same general conditions were found as in the 
one just left. We visited others, each one occupying 
its own eminence and presenting a difference in de- 
sign, though preserving the same general appearance. 
One, however, attracted our attention for many rea- 
sons. First because it was on the highest hill and 
again because we could see a peculiarity in the con- 
struction of the front wall, and last because a cordu- 
roy skid or stairway of timber had been built recently 
from the level of the valley to the front of the ruin 
on top of the hill for the purpose of removing the re- 
mainder of the celebrated Palenque cross, the other 
part of it being at present in the nmseura in the City 
of Mexico. 

Well, we climbed up the skid-way and reached 
the hill top. A veranda or corridor was the first place 



BITS OF OLD iVIBXICO 87 

we entered and the outer wall attracted our attention. 
It was started with a corbel both inside and out and 
when it got story high it met the inner wall corbel and 
formed an arch, and the outside had such a projection 
that it made a water shed and sloped back roof-like 
to the vipper stor.y or stories. The outer walls at the 
top of the first story, had a roof of stone with a pitch 
like a mansard, though perhaps not so steep. The 
upper stories rising from the back of the mansard and 
resting on interior walls. The upper structure seem- 
ed of a ginger bread character and looked like a num- 
ber of miniature stories, what they could have been 
used for I didn't even try to imagine. 

The altar or shrine was in evidence but this build- 
ing's chief interest lay in the stone on which with other 
figures and characters was carved the now wonderful 
Palenque cross. 

Hunger admonished us that the living present 
should receive some consideration, an'd we immediately 
proceeded to regale the inner man on whatever the 
servants had the forethought to provide. 

Our observations after this were of a general 
character and the hour admonished us to prepare for 
the return trip. 

Our visit was more than satisfactory from a tour- 
ist point of vicAv and we marveled that so few people 
find their way to this wonderful place. 

Less has been written about Palenque than any 
other ruins that I knoAv of, yet in a way Palenque has 
been know^n of since 1750, when some Spaniards 
stumbled across the ruins or were shown them by the 



88 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

Indians. News of the discovery was conveyed to 
Spain and the ruins were explored by order of the 
king in 1787. A further exploration wiis conducted in 
1807, by order of Charles IV. In 1839 John L. Steph- 
ens visited the ruins and explored them more system- 
atically than the others, and his conclusions were that 
if a like discovery had been made at that time in Italy, 
Greece, Egypt or Asia within reach of European travel 
it would have created an interest not inferior to the 
discovery of Herculanaeum or Pompeii or the ruins of 
Paestum. Mr. Stephens states that the natives aver 
that the ruins cover a space of sixty miles and that 
some writers have said that the ancient city was ten 
times larger than New York City, but he also adds 
that the natives know nothing about it and the stran- 
gers less, because the surface of the earth is covered 
by an impenetrable forest compared to which our 
wildest woodland is an open field and that one might 
pass within a hundred feet of the greatest of temples 
and not find it, consequently the extent is unknown to 
anyone, as no exploration has ever been made. 

The condition of the forest above noted is true, 
as far as we know, and it would be a large undertaking 
to ascertain the extent of this forgotten city if city it 
was. 

The Mexican government is apparently taking 
some interest in it, as evidenced by the visit of the min- 
ister of education, and I am sure, that never before 
were visitors permitted to see the ruins under such 
favorable conditions as we were, the forest in the im- 
mediate neighborhood having been cut down and the 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 89 

rooms in many of the ruins dug out for that official 
inspection. 

Some day the clearing up of the question of extent 
and age will be taken up and if one may judge from 
what little there is exposed a Avonderful revelation is 
in store for the civilized world to marvel at. 

It is strange that nothing is known of the build- 
ers though they have left their writings on the stones 
and we can but hope that the future will in this in- 
stance be able to unfold the past. 

We left the ruins of Palenque as we found them, 
but the memories and thoughts inspired by the visit 
will stay with us with ever recurring interest and spec- 
ulation. 

The trip back to the village was made mostly in 
the rain, but as we had our pouches or rain coats we 
did not mind it much. And by the way, a poncho is 
an oil cloth made with a hole in the center large 
enough to pass over the head and button up close 
under the chin. It hangs down below the knees, and 
when on horse back covers the legs as well as the 
body. 

We arrived very tired as the day was ending in 
the promise of a thoroughly wet night. 

The following morning found us up early but 
not bright and early, as we were anything but bright. 

We had decided to make a start back for the 
finca, and to that end had engaged the services of an 
Indian guide to show us another wav out, in order 



90 



HITS OF OLD MEXICO 



to avoid bridii^es which we were afraid might be wash- 
ed away. 

Before breakfast 1 happened to pass through the 
dining room and noticed our young lady hostess break- 
ino; the soft boiled eggs into a glass, and I stopped 
short when I noticed how she did it. She cracked the 
egg on the top of the glass and allowed the yolk to 
drop inside, then with her thumb nail she scooped out 
the remaining part of the white into the glass. About 
that time I decided that I wanted my eggs hard boil- 
ed and so informed her and had two sent back for 
further boiling or dipping, for they don't boil, but dip 
the eggs in boiling water. And when mine were 
thought to be sufficiently cooked, I broke them without 
the aid of the young lady's thumb. 

Dick questioned me about the eggs after breakfast, 
and when I told him the only comment he made was to 
congratulate himself on having his eggs prepared in 
the truly Mexican style. 

We started about nine, and our guide led us 
through the forest. There may have been a trail be- 
fore the rain, but if so no evidence of it remained, 
for we waded through water up to the horses' knees. 

We traveled of necessity single file and in close 
order, as the branches from above or below had to be 
held back by the one ahead ajid caught by the one fol- 
lowing. Our progress during this part of the journey 
was tiresome and not altogether without risk, but in 
the course of time we emerged and got into clearer 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 91 

territory, and about noon arrived at the abode of the 
guide, where we halted for lunch. 

His ranch or whatever else he called it, contained 
something over three hundred acres, but it was not 
all cultivated by any means. Still he got along in 
his way and managed to raise sufficient fruit and 
vegetables to support a large family of children and 
the necessary number of cattle and dogs. He also had 
quite a patch of tobacco growing, and in that and a 
half American grandson he lavished his greatest at- 
tention. He showed us his tobacco patch with pride 
and introduced his grandson Avith much show of affec- 
tion. 

The other members of the family were ignored. 
They were there to be seen but that was enough, and 
they seemed to understand it that way. 

After lunch our guide continued with us until wo 
Avere out of the woods, so to speak, and it was decid- 
ed that the way was clear and by following the trail 
we could hardly go wrong. It was well that the 
"hardly" had been inserted about going wrong, for 
though our mozos professed to know the way ahead, 
we surely got lost. At the end of a three hours' jour- 
ney came the end of the trail, in a clearing or rather 
a place where the trees and underbrush had been cut 
down. This clearing appeared to be about half a 
mile square. We left our horses in charge of the 
natives and separated, going to different parts of the 
clearing in an endeavor to find a trail. We spent an 
hour in this very tiresome business and Branchley 
was the fortunate one to find it at the extreme end of 



H2 HITS tJP OLD MEXICO 

the patch. This meant a hard job jretting the horses 
through, as the brush and down timber presented 
quite an obstruction to our progress, but we finalh 
made it without mishap and from there on the path 
was known to our people. Wo arrived at the finca of 
San Francisco to find that the low land between it and 
our headquarters had become a lake through the over- 
flowing of the river. The horses had to swim across 
and we were ferried over in the dug-out that had taken 
us across the river on our departure. 

It was not much of a place to call home, but we 
were glad to get there, and after dinner retired, as 
we were to be on the road again in the morning for 
El Salto aud our sixteen-horse power river boat. 

The following morning we had to divide our 
party. George Avas not sufficiently recovered to ride 
and Billie had acquired such an antipathy to both his 
horse and saddle that he agreed to accompany George 
down the river in the canoe. 

Branchley. Dick and myself trusted to the un- 
certainty of a new made trail for another twenty-five 
mile jungle ride. 

We first saw the river voyagers off and then began 
the worst days ride we had since we started on the 
trip. 

As I look back on it the thoughts are so unpleas- 
ant that I will pass over it briefly, merely mention- 
ing the fact that Dick's horse for over twenty miles 
could hardly be induced to travel beyond the pace of 
the proverbial snail, and the last few miles could hari'lj 
be restrained, when it found itself in known territory. 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 93 

as it belonged to El Salto and its desire to get home 
was so great that many times Dick had narrow escapes 
from branches or low bridges as they are called. 

The trail led over the most uneven country, that 
it could be the fate of saddle-tired amateur jockeys 
to encounter. 

Climbing up steep grades on the back of the 
animal where climbing on foot would have been 
considered hazardous, and going down hill where the 
stirrups pointed to the horses head and the riders 
head about on a line with the horses tail, over rocky 
formation for quite a distance, where nature had not 
been particular about rubbing down the jagged sur- 
face. All this and then some, but whj^ think it all 
over again. 

We arrived at El Salto to find our friends ahead 
of us some hours, but also with a story to tell. 

Their canoe was carried down the Rio Mechel at 
quite a speed, the river having risen many feet. They 
were hung up on a tree at one point, and run ashore 
at many others where the river turned or where logs 
had gorged it. They were all but spilled a number of 
times, and George and Billie both agreed that if they 
ever were shanghaied, they hoped they would not be 
shipped to sail on the Rio Mechel in a dug-out. 

The horses and mules were delivered to their 
owner who seemed to have an interest in everything in 
town. 

El Salto is a town of one thousand population, at 
the head of navigation on the Tulija river. One street 
is fronting on the water, but the principal business 



94 BJTS OP OLD MEXICO 

houses are on a street runnincr at rierht aiiirles from th'' 
river. 

The irentlenian from whorn our horses had been 
hired, owned a jreneral store. He also conducted a 
hotel and the post office, cashed checks of all the busi- 
ness men for miles around, boujrht and sold any kind 
of product from coffee to cattle, ran a liquor store and 
finally was a friend of the Jefe politico, an official 
who is both .iuds"e and .i'lO' in «11 matters short of 
murder. 

We had the pleasure of meeting; and dininjr with 
these f^entlemen. and found them both very agreeable 
persons. 

The captain of our j^ood ship the Recrio. soon 
learned of our arrival and reported for instructions. 

We decided to start that eveningr before sun down, 
and after roundinjr up the crew and trettincr evprythin^; 
in ship shape, the captain ajrain appeared with the 
whole crew and took our boloneinprs aboard. 

We said adios to the representatives of the com- 
mercial and judicial interests of El Salto and start.ed 
on our way down the stream. 

The niofht was clear but without moonlicrht. The 
captain was not much in favor of runninjr at niffht as 
snaprs were danirerous and the river rapid, but we were 
anxious to jret alon?. and so he took a chance. 

After dinner T climbed on top of the engine house, 
as the stars were beautiful and the mosquitos below 
very annoying. T made myself as comfortable as pos- 
sibly by usinpr some old canvas to keep me from roll- 
ine off into thp rivei-. and makincr a pillow out of a 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 95 

bucket rack. I must have dozed off to sleep, for about 
nine o'clock I felt a jar and sure enough we had run 
into one of the snags the captain had dreaded. The 
sudden stop almost threw me overboard, and from 
below came a babel of tongues, the captain swearing at 
the crew in Spanish for getting snagged and damning 
his luck in English for attempting to run at night 
against his better judgment, and a sharp, triumphant 
"I told you so" to Billie, who immediately hoisted his 
admiral's flag and assuming command, ordered all 
hands forward so that the weight in the bow might 
slide the boat over the obstruction. The order was 
obeyed and the result was satisfactory, as the boat slid 
off after Avavering some as to whether she would keel 
over or do as she was expected. Then the captain 
came to the conclusion that we were lost, as no shore 
was in sight and the snag was not charted, so after the 
crew had been sworn at some more, the captain order- 
ed them to send up signals of distress, which they 
did by shouting, alternately, "Amigos." This con- 
tinued for a minute or so when a voice from some- 
where answered. Then an animated conversation fol- 
lowed at the end of which the captain informed us 
that we were in a lagoon, and that the owner of the 
voice had gone to get his boat and come aboard as 
pilot. Pending the coming of the rescue party a hur- 
ried examination of the boat was made by Billie, who 
being a ship designer and builder was qualified for the 
inspection. The well was sounded and found dry; 
the sides were examined and pronounced intact; the 
rudder had passed safely over the snag and the en- 



P6 BITS OF Or.D MEXICO 

pine responded when tried. By this time the boat was 
heard coming with our friend who was soon on board 
directing which way to steer. 

It seems that our misfortune was caused by the 
overflow of the river and the helmsman had steered 
through an opening in the bank and lost us in the 
lagoon. 

We were soon again in the river and the pilot re- 
mained with us long enough to have something to eat 
and inform the captain of his latitude and longitude. 

On consulting the chart we found ourselves close 
to Tipititan. which we soon reached and where by 
mutual agreement Ave stopped for the night. 

The crew got the owner of the dungeon hotel out 
of bed, and he w^ent through the performance of setting 
up cots for us as on the former occasion. 

The night Avas beautiful and the inside of the room 
anything but inviting, so after the others had retired 
I Avandered up and doAvn betAveen the church and the 
sleeping place until about tAvo in the morning, enjoying 
the beauty of the southern cross, as on our former stop- 
ping at Tipititan. 

"We were aroused in the morning by the captain 
pounding on one of the doors and informing us that 
breakfast Avas ready. 

A hurried toilet and Ave were soon on board and 
on our way dowrn the stream. The river was high and 
the current rapid so Ave made good time and without 
mishap arrived at Frontera in the afternoon and were 



BITS OP OLD MEXICO 97 

soon on the mental register of our genial host Senor 
Hop Wah at the Grand Hotel. 

We met our Pittsburg friends, who had been up 
the country looking over some oil land and who im- 
parted to us the cheerful information that we had just 
missed a boat for Vera Cruz and would be compelled to 
Avait a few days for the next sailing. This was dis- 
couraging, to say the least, but we were somewhat 
consoled later in the evening when we learned that a 
boat would sail the following evening for San Juan 
Bautista, the capital of the state of Tobaseo. and fur- 
ther that a bull fight was to take place on Sunday. 

We made up our minds to take the trip as it would 
relieve the monotony. 

The weather in Frontera was getting warmer since 
our last visit and the mosquitos seemed to recognize 
us and gave us the glad hand, so to speak. And that 
reminds me that the mosquitos aforesaid were the 
cause of our friend George having to set up the drinks 
that evening. 

We were seated at a table on the street with our 
Pittsburc friends and the captain having refreshments 
and talking over our trip. The mosquitos were very at- 
tentive, perhaps hoping to get some pointers about 
the habits and customs of their relatives up the 
country, one especially large fellow having selected 
George as its prize : had touched him on the back of 
hand a number of times. George had made as many in- 
effectual attempts to annihilate his tormentor, and be- 
coming exasperated beyond his usual placid condi- 
tion made three rapid slaps on the back of his hand. 



98 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

The mosquito disappeared but the waiter appeared 
instead, as waiters iu Mexico are summoned by three 
claps of the hand. We all saw where George was the 
victim doubly by bisinj; his mosquito and calling 
the waiter. He made good, however, and we ordered a 
double ration and he paid for the score. 

The night was extremely close, the exertion of 
even sitting in a chair was tiring, and the per.spira- 
tion fairly dropped from the end of our fingers. 

The captain consoled us by recalling nights in 
Frontera, when a night like the present one called for 
overcoats and zerappas; nights so warm that the mos- 
quitos were forced to crawl on the streets and had to 
bite you through the soles of your shoes. In fact so 
hot became the captain's stories that we were obliged 
to hand out a few of our own about the glorious cli- 
mate of California and Arizona, and Billie told 
about the dead soldier from Yuma, who in response 
to the inquiry of his Satanic Majesty if it was hot 
enough for him. requested permission to return for his 
blankets. 

The captain bethought him that he was behind in 
his dues in the Auanias Club and bade us good-night. 

The shower bath at the Grand Hotel worked over- 
time that night before we retired, and after the shower 
bath ceased to work the mosquitoes went on watch and 
enlivened the remaining liours by singing "We won't 
go home till morning." 

For breakfast Dick hud ordercnl ham and eggs 
and got Hop to understand by sign language that he 
wanted them turned over. Hop got the idea firmly 



BITS OP OLD MEXICO 99 

fixed in his mind and repeated "turn him over" so 
often that when Billie ordered oatmeal and George 
wanted fruit Hop Wah looking very wise repeated 
"turn him over," but whether he knew a little more 
English than he pretended to I don't know, but he 
generally furnished whatever we wanted and was 
altogether a good fellow. 

We procured tickets for the steamer to San Juan 
and embarked at six o'clock Saturday afternoon. 

The crew were all Mexican except the captain, 
who was a fierce looking sea dog of some Central 
American country. 

We had a reasonably good cabin with four berths, 
but spent most of the time on deck. 

The stewards were obliging fellows and we got 
along very nicely. We arrived the following morning 
and by arrangement were taken to a hotel where we 
had a very fair meal, secured rooms for the night, and 
proceeded to look the town over. 

SAN JUAN BEAUTISTA. 

San Juan Beautista is a town of about thirteen 
thousand population. The capital of the state of To- 
basco; a wide awake place with fairly good streets 
and stores; is about fifty feet above sea level; has a 
good producing country back of it and a chance for 
shipping that makes it one of the desirable business 
centers of the State. 

We inquired about the bull fight and where it was 



100 HITt; OF OLD MEXICO 

to be and were informed that it was postponed, but a 
cock fight would take place in the afternoon. 

We were just as well i)leased. and so when the 
appointed time arrived we were conducted to a place a 
short distance from the business center: paid admis- 
sion of fifty cnts and were allowed to take a seat any- 
where we wanted around the cock pit. 

Cock fighting is ouite an institution in Mexico, 
and the breeding of the fighting kind an industry in 
itself. 

The different breeds or strains are as well known 
in Mexico, as horses are known in the United States, 
and the breeding and training as carefully looked 
after. 

The ring or pit is a circular affair much after the 
build of the bull ring, only on a much smaller scale. 
The pit itself was about twenty feet in diameter: a 
fence three feet high around it. and the seats rising in 
a circle above it. 

The birds are on exhibition, one or two at a time 
being allowed in the ring with their owners. The 
birds are allowed to walk around and get a look at a 
possible opponent on the other side. The match is 
made; the birds are each put in a thin bag and weigh- 
ed. 

After the weighing has been accomplished, quite 
an exciting time is had making wagers on the outcome 
of the battle. Everything having been agreed to 
about rules, both birds are brought over to the judge, 
who sits in the ring close to the fence. He has some 
antiseptic with which he l)athes the spurs and bills 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 101 

of each cock, then the owner takes his bird and holds 
it down in front of the other till they are trying to 
break away and get at each other. They are then 
let go and either spar around for an opening or mix 
things. Very little fighting is done with the bill; the 
spur is what inflicts the punishment. With head's 
down and up and back and forth, each one looks for an 
opening and generally ends by both jumping up at the 
same time and using the spurs fastened on the legs to 
strike with. Sometimes one might get its quietus in 
the first round or heat, and sometimes the fight is long 
drawn out, where bills and spurs mix indiscriminately, 
and sometimes the fight may be decided without the 
death of either or by a draw. Some cocks will fight till 
they fall and others will quit when things don't go 
their way, and some have all the tricks of the ring 
and could give a few pointers to some of the human 
gladiators. One in particular, when it became winded 
let the other pick away at its comb all the way around 
the ring, taking all the punishment the other could 
inflict with its bill, and when it got rested up it turned 
around and faced the other, and after sparring a little 
both flew up and used their spurs, the loafer cutting 
the other in the neck. They sparred again and the 
next fly up was the end, for the one that did most of 
the fighting heretofore fell down a dead one. The 
loafing fellow cast a look of contempt at its fallen foe. 
gave its wings a flap and crowed as much as to say, "I 
told you so." 

The above is a sample of what we saw. Quite a 



102 BITS Ol' OLD MEXICO 

number of fiji:hts took place but they were all about 
tho same. 

'Die owners of the birds, when the fight was on 
were about as much interested as were the birds them- 
selves, and one old man. citrhty years old, and who had 
a long flowing beard and looked more like an Ameri- 
can missionary than anything else was grieved beyond 
measure because lie liad a bird under his arm and could 
not get a match. 

We were told that this venerable looking old Don 
was a breeder and ficrhter of game cocks by profes- 
sion. Alas for appearance. 

Well the fight was over and we had witnessed 
another of the Mexican national sports, for next to a 
bull fight the native dearly loves a cock fight. 

The difference between the two sports, if they can 
be so called, is that in the cock fight one or both 
usually leave the ring alive, but the bull never. The 
cock is fighting to show its superiority against another 
of its kind. The bull against fate, but there you are. 
You pay .your money and you take your choice. 

Cockfighting was not the only excitement that 
Sunday. It was the feast day of the Saint whose 
dutj"" it was to look over the spiritual affairs of the 
town. The governor was in attendance, and all the 
other dignitaries of state, attending on the governor. 
Horse races and sports of all kinds beloved by the 
Mexican held sway. The Mexican dandy was in evi- 
dence with his sombrero so heavy with silver bullion 
that all his wealth might be said to be on his head 
instead of in his pooket. His trousers — but I think T 



BITH OP OLD MEXICO 103 

had better call them pauts — were buttoned or laced 
on his legs and a small cannon stuck in his right hand 
hip pocket gave him the air of a bold, bad man re- 
formed in spots. 

The senoritas were out in numbers as the very 
presence of the above mentioned article of the op- 
posite sex Avould warrant, but the hero in the eyes of 
all the ladies, young and old, seemed to be the dash- 
ing horseman, and especially the winner in the race. 
He was surrounded by them and they would have 
made him president on the spot if they could have 
voted before the next race came off. 

Altogether it was a good-natured crowd that as- 
sembled there and they thoroughly enjoyed them- 
selves, and if honoring a saint in Mexico is productive 
of so much good fellowship, then the catalogue of 
saints can be increased very largely, without injury to 
the material enjoyment of the population. 

The evening was spent in the plaza, which was well 
lighted and crowded by the promenaders, who were 
entertained by the music of a first-class band. The 
governor was again present and seemed to be one of 
the people. He was evidently well known and pop- 
ular, judging from the pleasant, informal way he 
greeted those who talked with him. 

We could have been presented, but declined the 
honor in so public a place, especially as our Spanish 
might show that we were English and our English 
that we were Americans. At all events, the evening 
was a pleasant one, and the natives did not have all 
the enjoyment. We returned to our hotel reluctantly, 



104 BITS OF OLD xMEXICO 

Ji»r wliilt* we were iu the eye of the public, we tried 
to appi-ar brave with the aid of a twig of a tree to 
brusli tile niosquitos oft"; but in your own room and 
face to face with them, then the coward in one's com- 
position siiows itself and you wish the night could be 
spent iu dreams of the past events of the day. 

Some one has written: "The sadness of the 
singer makes the music of the song." Whoever wrote 
that had never heard the mosquito sing. I tried to 
think that way, but 1 could not find anything that 
would indicate that a single mosquito in the whole 
chorus ever had a sorrow in all its biting experience. 

1 started out to make believe that we had a very 
nice visit and I am not going to spoil the impression 
by detailing the hours, minutes or seconds of the night 
and how they were spent, merely remarking that I 
looked as free from the scars of battle as any of the 
party wlien we aserabled for breakfast the following 
morning. 

The town presented quite a changed aspect from 
yesterday. The stores were open and the business 
life of the streets was in full blast. The donkey had its 
load on its back; the oxen were plodding along in the 
yoke ; the vendor has his stand or his basket, and the 
men of affairs were passing to and fro. and even the 
barefooted youngster seemed on business bent. 

We visited some of the stores making purchases 
of articles we wanted or that were peculiar to the 
place, notably some alligator skins. It seems that 
large numbers of those animals arc Isillcd in the sur- 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 105 

rounding swamps and rivers. We bought over a dozen 
skins, large and small. 

The gum of tlie chicle tree is shipped from this 
place in large quantities. The store-keeper gave each 
of us a piece about as large as a base ball and assured 
us that one hundred pounds of chewing gum could be 
davored with a piece of chicle of the same size. 

Our hotel-keeper spoke English and acted as our 
guide around town, Avas a good fellow and did not 
try to get more than the traffic would bear; saw that 
our traps were taken on board the steamer, and came 
down and saw us off, when the steamer pulled out at 
8 p. m. on the way back to Frontera. 

The return trip was a repetition of the coming 
and we arrived at 5 :30 the following morning. 

No boat would arrive for three days, so we put 
in our time as best we could. We visited the American 
consul and found him well posted on the country and 
its products; looked over a little boat-building plant 
at the end of the town where Billie felt very much at 
home, and even commended the workmanship of the 
mechanics at work. Billie was suffering from a boil and 
hadn't energy enough to get into an argument and 
that accounted for the shipyard not being criticised, 
for he dearly loved an argument. George spent much 
of the time trying to find new beauty and meaning in 
an old font in the church across the plaza and Dick 
just swore. I helped each one out in his special line 
until we got aboard the tug at 6 :45 a. m. Friday, glad 
to get away from Frontera, though we had been 
treated as well and as often as the place could afford. 



!<•() BITS OF OLD MPiXICO 

We left the tug and boarded the steamer Taniaulipas 
Mt 8 o'clock. 

COATZACOALCOS. 

This boat is a companion of the Tehauntepec on 
which we came from Vera Cruz, so our accommodations 
were about the same. We spent all night on deck, 
sleeping when and where we could in preference to 
the cabin berths, and the following morning about 
11 o'clock we arrived at Coatzacoalcos at w^hich place 
we remained some five hours. It has a good harbor 
and is the terminal of the Tehuantepec Railway. It 
was selected by Corte/ on account of its safe anchor- 
age for shipping, and no doubt became quite a place 
in after years, but at present it shows but the re- 
mains of what it used to be. 

The immediate neighborhood of the w'ater-front 
and railway station is the only part of the town that 
shows life, but the advent of the railway and increas- 
ed shipping gives promise of a future that is looked 
forward to by the population with pleasant anticipa- 
tion. The hotel overlooking the river is everything 
that could be expected in such a place; in fact we 
were agreeably surprised when after some inquiry we 
found we could have chicken, steak, vegetables and ale 
for lunch. This was not the regular menu, of course, 
but we wanted something good and so ordered when 
we found it to be had. This meal was a great sur- 
prise to us and came in the right time, as it was 
about eating time on the boat when we arrived. We 
wandered along the street, looking into the (|uaint old 



BITS OP OLD MEXICO 107 

stores and noting the advance being made in the 
getting ready for the new order of things in great 
shipping and railway business that it promised. A 
new building of quite good size was in the course of 
construction, and two barbers are catering to the for- 
eign trade and incidentally abusing each other. But 
this shows competition and they really were good bar- 
bers, for our party tried them both. One of them 
looked like a negro, and the other like an Indian, but 
neither of them like a Mexican. 

The population, including the barbers, may ap- 
proximate eight or nine hundred. The streets are 
miserable, and prosperity had better get a move on, 
or the population will have all its clothes worn out 
sitting around. 

We sailed away from the waiting natives about 
four in the afternoon ; had dinner on board ; spent the 
night on deck, and the following day at whatever 
part of the boat that presented the most shade. A 
trip like the present offers opportunity for resolutions 
to lead a better life; at least, it ought to, if the in- 
dividual is a staunch believer in the old-fashioned 
hereafter. We baked or stewed through the day and 
arrived at Vera Cruz at 6 p. m. 

Tavo things had been determined on before ar- 
riving ; one was to select a new hotel, and the next, not 
to get the same band of cargadores we encountered on 
our last visit. 

We made our way to the hotel on the plaza and 
found it all we expected, and before landing made 
arrangements with a fellow passenger who lived in 



108 HITSS OF OLD MEXICO 

Wra ("ru/ to s(h^ thai our things were delivered at 
the hotel. We hatl been glad to get away from the 
city on our former visit, but we were glad to return 
to it again, even though we had been compelled to 
put up at the home of the retired pirate. After dinner 
we met our passenger friend who had so kindly helped 
us about our baggage, and through him some of the 
engineers of the Mexican navy. They were Scotch- 
men, and I was surprised to learn that a large per- 
centage in this branch of the navy are of that nation- 
ality. They are not entitled to the protection of the 
mother country while in the Mexican government's 
service, but do not lose their citizenship, and on their 
return home, assume their standing as before. They 
all seemed to be good fellows and a very pleasant 
evening was spent in their company. 

The following day saw us busy getting money 
drafts cashed, and replacing some of the articles we 
had either worn out or lost, and on Tuesday morning, 
at 6, we took our last look at the city of Vera Cruz 
and were on our way to Puebla. 

Our thoughts were pleasant of the scenery ahead 
of us through the lower levels, the banana and coffee 
plantations, Cordoba and Orizaba, up the mountain's 
side, with a view of the Maltrata valley below, a])- 
pearing and disappearing, as the train enters a tunnel, 
or winds around the mountain side. 

THE RURALE. 

The effect is prettier, if possible, coming up than 
going down, as the trip takes so much longer time. 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 109 

and more opportunity is presented to enj(>y the change 
of scene. We arrived at Esperanza at 1 p. m. and 
had lunch. I was careful not to t^jet left behind as I 
did on ray former visit. A run of a little over two 
hours and we were at Apizaco where we ehanp:ed ears, 
and had half an hour to admire the rurales, the 
country soldiers or police. They are armed with rifle 
and bayonet, or sword and pistol, depending on 
whether they are mounted or foot soldiers. In some 
towns or stations they wear shoes, at other places, 
sandals, and frequently they go bare-footed. Uusally 
a squad of five or six with guns line up on the plat- 
form and stand at attention till the train departs; 
but it often happens that where the train carries 
second and third-class passengers a rurale is stationed 
at the steps and none but first-class passengers are 
allowed to alight till they reach their destination. 

The venders of fruit and drinks deliver their wares 
through the windows, and the litter in some of the 
cars after a meal, is just as well left to the imagina- 
tion. The rurale while in many cases not a thing of 
beauty, is very useful. Formerly it was not the safest 
thing to travel by rail in Mexico ; then the Government 
organized this branch of the army, and pity any outlaw 
who falls into the hands of these soldiers! 

Some of the bravest and most daring of Mexico's 
citizens are officers in the rurales, and it is known 
that when trouble takes place, and they are sent to 
quell it. a crowd must disperse on their approach, 
for they shoot and shoot to kill, and so Mexico has be- 
come one of the safest places in the world to travel. 



110 BITS OF OLD MP:X1C0 

because of the distribution of these men in the most 
out-of-the-way places. 

The train on the other side of the station house 
is ffettinpr ready to pull out for Puebla. so we must 
sret aboard and leave the rurales and the fancy-carved 
walking sticks for which Apizaco is celebrated. A 
run of an hour and a half and we are pullino; into the 
station of the "Villa pre of the Angels." 

PUEBLA. 

Again the cargadores. but in this instance it was 
not that we were charged too much, but that we had 
to use them at all. "We had been directed by a friend 
where to put up and Avhen we approached the carriage 
drivers and inquired for the hotel we had been ad- 
vised to go to, they all shook their heads and men- 
tioned another hotel. Well, we came to the conclus- 
ion that none of the carriages from our hotel were 
present and that those present belonged to a rival con- 
cern, and as they did not look at all inviting, we asked 
a cargador if he knew our hotel, and he did. This 
confirmed our opinion that we were very clever and 
had solved the whole problem. We employed this car- 
gadore and empowered him to enlist a whole army of 
assistants, rather than go to a liotel not of our choice, 
but he only selected one. and after piling our things in 
two loads strapped them with long straps they keep 
for that purpose; then putting the strap nround the 
top of the head. olT they went and we following. They 
went at a half trot and it kept us busy keeping up 
with the proce.ssion. They trndeed along block after 



1 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 111 

block till we began to think they were heading for 
another town, but, at last, they brought up at a hotel, 
and deposited the baggage on the office floor. 

They were very reasonable in their demand, onl>' 
charging one dollar Mexican for the whole outfit. A 
lady made her appearance; we registered and were 
assigned to rooms with two beds in a room. After 
taking in the general surroundings, we came to the 
conclusion that the hackmen were probably correct 
when they mentioned another hotel, and we soon dis- 
covered how it all happened. The good friend who 
had given us all the information about hotels and 
places had traveled through the country some ten or 
twelve years ago, and he had directed us to the places 
he had put up at in those daj'-s, forgetting that the 
world moves, even in Mexico. True, the hotel where 
we found ourselves, w^as comfortable, but it was away 
behind what we expected to find in a city with a pop- 
ulation of 125,000 souls. We were located about a 
block and a half from the plaza but the street and 
buildings were about as good as any the same dis- 
tance from the real business center, and the dinner that 
was served had a tendency to calm our ruffled feelings, 
and Ave concluded to say. ''good enough." Cigars 
and a look around the plaza completely reconciled us 
to our present surroundings and conditions. George 
gazed longingly at the Cathedral on the south side of 
the Plaza Mayor, but the hour was late, so Dick said 
that prior to the band concert it would be .just as well 
to know whether it was Orizaba or some other brew 
that we would have to ask for, and as he had already 



112 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

.selected his place, we all agreed to let him act as 
tniide and provider. 

Piie])la. lil\(^ all important cities in Mexico, has 
its legend miracnloiis. romantic or relicrions. One 
story of its founding: is enoiiprh. It runs that the 
Fray Julian Garces desired to found a stopping place 
between the coast and the capital, and fallinir asleep, 
dreamed that he saw a beautiful plain on the slope of 
the great volcanoes with two little hills about a league 
between. There were sprinors in the plain and rivers 
with abundant water, with trees and flowers. In his 
dreams two angrels appeared and measured the streets 
and sfpiares. The Bishop awoke, and truided by the 
power that produced the dream, he soon came to the 
plain which he recoqrnized. exclaiminq:. "Here hath 
the Lord, throusrh his anprels shown me the site of the 
city, and to his ulory it shall bo made." And so it was 
named Puebla de los Anrreles. Another commonplace 
account tells of a number of Spanish families from 
Tlaxacala coming to the valley on the 16th of 
April. 1582. commencing the building of houses on this 
site; but the first account sounds better, so we will 
let it go at that. 

Puebla is pleasantly situated at an altitude of 
7091 feet above sea level and has a population of 125.- 
000. It has seen many ups and downs since the time 
when it was only a dream of the good Bishop. It was 
captured by Iturbide August 2nd. 1821, was occupied 
by General Scott. May 25th. 1847. during the Mexican 
war with the United States, was the scene of the 
\•ictoJ•^• of General Zaratrozn nixainst the French on the 



r 








MITLA (pages 121-131,) 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 113 

5th of May, 1862; was captured by the French in 
1863, and was finally taken from them by General 
Diaz, April 2nd, 1867, since which time it has behaved 
very nicely, devoting itself to the restoration of its 
46 churches that had been battered about some by the 
carelessness of many invaders. The guide book tells 
the truth about the city itself, when it says: "The 
city is spread out on the plain in the foreground. To 
the West the great volcanoes of Popocatepetl and 
Ixtaccihuatl ; to the North is the mighty Malintzi and 
to the East old Orizaba." 

A number of hills, large and small, are scattered 
around promiscuoush^ and on the left, in the distance, 
can be seen the Pyramid of Cholula. The streets 
are good enough and the buildings not bad; the busi- 
ness houses are principally on the plaza and are two 
and three stories high. The public buildings are 
fair, but the churches are grand. They are 46 in num- 
ber and each one noted for its color effect, the church 
of one saint being red and that of another yellow, and 
so on through the list of saints, or until the colors 
are exhausted. The principal one, the Cathedral of 
Puebla, is said to rival that of the City of Mexico and 
except in size the finer of the two, but I have heard 
this said about three other churches in as many dif- 
ferent towns. Anyhow, the one under consideration 
was begun in 1636 and consecrated on April 18th, 
1649. It is 323 feet long and 101 feet wide and over 
80 feet in the clear on the inside and surmounted by 
a dome. The old tower which cost $100,000 contains 
eighteen bells, the largest of which weighs 20,000 



114 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

pounds. The yreat choir is of stone and in the center 
of the nave ; it is surrounded by wrought-iron gratings 
made in 1697. The carvings on the organ and wood- 
work are of native woods and supposed to be very fine. 
The pulpit is carved from Puebla onyx, and the mar- 
quetry work deemed a revelation. An inlaid picture 
of Saint Peter on the door leading to the Bishop's 
seat is considered a master-piece. 

The high altar was commenced in 1789 and com- 
pleted in 1819 at a cost of $110,000. It is made of 
all the marbles in Mexico and the best samples of 
Puebla onyx. Beneath the altar is the tomb of the 
Bishop, made by slabs of onyx. An urn containing 
the ashes of San Sabastain de Aparicio and a thorn 
from the crown of Christ are the most revered possess- 
ions of the Cathedral. The other 45 churches we 
turned over to George and Billie, Dick and I devoting 
our time to more material affairs. 

It was well that we delegated the remainder of the 
churches to George and Billie, for George reported 
having found out some important matters in the church 
history of Puebla. and Billie certified to their historical 
correctness. 

It would seem that the architect of the church 
of San Francisco, having designed and built a flat 
arch roof in or on the edifice, was afraid to take out 
the forms on which it was built, and turned the job 
over to the priests, but their faith was not in roofs, 
and they refused to lake a chance. Some laborers 
were called in, and they got cold feet. It was then 
decided to sot fire to the support*; Hnd watch results. 



1 



BITS OP OLD MEXICO 115 

which they did. The arch stood and is standing to 
this day, covering a period of over two hundred years. 

The chapel of San Sebastain is also here and 
they discovered that it was he who first introduced 
wheeled carts and oxen into Mexico, and drove the 
first ox team between Puebla and Vera Cruz in 1542, 
and in the same year drove the team to Zacatecas. 
This is the gentleman whose bones the people of 
Puebla revere next to the thorn from the crown of 
Christ. 

The town is tiles from roof to basement floor ; that 
is, if they have basements. The towers are tile, the 
roofs tile, the floors tile, many of the walls inside are 
tile and some of the walls outside. They are as varied 
in color as are the churches, or the churches as varied 
in color as are the tiles; it is one and the same. 

The onyx industry in Puebla must be large. We 
examined in it the rough and finish; it is of a good 
quality in both instances and must bring in quite a 
revenue, though not expensive except to visitors. It 
is worked up into all xhapes and sizes, from the pen- 
holder, with which to make your will, to the slab to 
cover your vault when you are laid away. It is 
sculptured into statues of saints and sinners, in goblets 
for wine and fonts for holy water, and in all its varied 
forms, is beautiful. 

The plaza is surrounded on three sides by stores, 
restaurants and eantinas. The stores close about 11 
in the forenoon and open again at 2 in the afternoon. 
This custom prevails in all Mexican cities of any im- 
portance, including the City of Mexico, and in that 



116 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

country if? a <r()od rule as ovcrybody o:ets a rest in the 
heat of the day and no one loses any bnsiness since all 
stores are closed. Oh ! there is one exception and 
that is the cantinas. 

PYRAMID OP CHOLULO. 

Our second day was devoted to a visit to Cholulo. 
the onetime Mecca of ancient Mexico. 

This was one of our cherished pilgrrimages. We 
walked a number of blocks to the startin<r place of the 
street car, as it was advisable to jret seats at the be- 
ginninfj of the trip rather than take chances of getting 
accommodations alonp: the streets. An outside car is 
run for the natives and a covered one for visitors or 
rather for first and second-class passengers. The crew 
consists of a conductor, a driver and tAvo mules. We 
took the outside car and had quite a time eonvincins 
the conductor that we preferred it. and only satisfied 
him when we travo him ;i littlp more than first-class 
fare. 

The distance between Puebla and Cholulo is eight 
miles and the i-ide not \inpleasant across the Atoyas 
valley. 

An arched acpieduct about a quarter of a mile 
on the right adds to the interest of the trip. 

The hacienda of San Juan, a stone building, on 
the hill to the left, is noted for its having been stormed 
and carried by assault i;i one of the many battles of 
the neighborhood. 

Across a bridge, over the Atoyac river, past 
i'}iiir<'hos and haciendas, large and small, with the 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 117 

sound of the bells on tlie mules and the polite words 
of encouragement of "mula, mula" to them by the 
driver, or the application of the whip when they fail 
to respond to the coaxing, and instead of "mula, 
mula," "burro, burro," and the whip again, but 
the mules, from what 1 saw of them, were perfectly in- 
different as to whether they were flattered or abused, 
the driver doing all the worrying. We made the trip 
in the schedule time, but found quite a change in the 
place since Cortez first stood in the plaza and was 
welcomed b}' the high priests of Cholulo. 

The founding of the city and the building of the 
pyramid, like most of Mexico's ancient history is lost, 
if ever it was written, but tradition says that Cholulo 
was a city and the pyramid there long before the ad- 
vent of the Aztecs into the plateau. 

One of the legends is that it was built by a race 
of giants descending from two survivors of a great 
deluge that overspread the land, and that it was their 
intention to raise its heights to heaven, but they in- 
curred the displeasure of the gods, ^vho sent forth fire 
to destroy them. This is taken to correspond with the 
Chaldean and Hebrew accounts of the deluge and the 
Tower of Babel. 

Prescott tells us something about it but leaves it 
about as we found it so far as anything authentic is 
concerned. 

In early days Cholulo Avas the capital of an inde- 
pendent state, long before the Aztecs time, and though 
no one knows how it happened, the city became cele- 
brated for its very antiquity and religious traditions, 



118 BJTS Of OLD MEXICO 

for here it ^vas that the great fair God paused ou his 
way to the ocean, passing twenty years teaching the 
Toltecs the arts of civilization, after which he passed 
on assuring them of his return in the course of time. 
Mter his departure the great pyramid was built to do 
hira honor. On top of this pyramid was erected a 
temple in which was placed the image of the deity 
"God of the air," as he was known. The face of the 
image was black, though the original was white. He 
was represented as wearing a mitre on his head, wav- 
ing with tiames of fire, a collar of gold around his 
neck, pendants of turquoise in his ears, a jewelled 
sceptre in one hand and a painted shield, the emblem 
of his rule over the winds, in the other. 

The magnificence of the temple and the sanctity 
of the place brought thousands from the farthest 
corners of Anahuac to wor.ship. 

The worship became debased and instead of offer- 
ing up flowers and fruit, human beings became the 
offerings, and it is said that 6,000 victims were offered 
up annually on the allai's of Cholulo and its never- 
dying fire. 

The great pyramid was 177 feet high, 1,423 feet 
on each of the four sides which were facing the cardi- 
nal points. It was truncated in form, had four 
terraces and the platform on the top covered more 
than an acre. It was reached hy 120 steps and also 
by a paved roadway up the west side. 

At the time that Cortex, first entered Cholulo it 
was said to contain 20,000 houses within the wall and 
as many more outside in the immediate surroundings. 



BITS OP OLD MEXICO 119 

Cortez himself stated that from the top of the pyra- 
mids he eoiinted four hundred towers and that '.lo 
temple had more than two towers and many of them 
only one. 

The city that once was the capital of a great 
people is now a straggling town or village of less than 
5,000 people. The market place retains its ancient 
name of "Tianquiz;" the plaza is old enough looking 
to have been laid out when the pyramid was built. A 
church on one side, a militarj'^ place, back of which is 
the market on another, and the main street running 
past the third ; a large fountain of stone and metal 
from which the people get water is in the plaza, and a 
statue of Juarez further on and nearly opposite the 
church. 

The houses on the main street are one-story and 
only a few on the right near the plaza amount to any- 
thing. 

We climbed the pyramid and found a Christian 
church occupying the site of the former temple. 
The view of the surrounding valley from this point 
is worth the climb and while the present town of 
Cholulo has some twenty odd churches, I counted a 
greater number than that in the open country from 
the top of the mysterious and wonderful pyramid of 
Cholulo. 

We descended sloAvly and took one of the mule 
ears for Puebla, reflecting on the fleeting grandeur of 
all things human. 

The evening was devoted to getting ready for an 



120 BlTfci OF OLD MEXICO 

early start the following morning: to Oaxaea and the 
ruins of Mitla. 

We had become so far at peace with the carriages 
that we engaged two of them to call at the hotel in 
the morning and take us to the station. The carga- 
dores were disappointed I suppose wlien they found 
that we had gone without their assistance, but the 
carriages tilled the bill and at 6:15 we were on our 
way. 

From Puebla the railway descends through a 
fairly good valley and some small towns but the first 
place of any importance is Tehuaean, 79 miles out of 
Puebla, and 5.408 feet above sea level, famous for its 
pomegranates and quinces, great quantities of which 
they ship annually, but its chief attraction at present 
is the El Riego springs, about two miles from the 
town and which is reached by street cars. These 
springs have the reputation of curing all sorts of 
stomach, liver and kidney troubles, and are a guar- 
anteed remedy for gall stones. 

"We had only ten minutes' stop, and the time was 
hardly long enough to prove the efficacy of the waters, 
had we any of the troubles they guaranteed to cure. 
Indeed, I was more interested in tr3nng to get a snap 
shot of a rurale, who was barefooted and had a patch 
on his panties for every state of the union. I follow- 
ed him up and down the platform, but the place was 
crowded and just as I pressed tlie bulb of the camera, 
fate, in the shape of a small boy, butted in between us 
and I caught more boy than rurale in the picture. 

Prom Tehuaean the descent is more steep and the 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 121 

heat rises as the elevation lessens. Palm trees appear 
and later on immense fields of sugar cane are passed 
through. We reach our lowest point at Quiotepec, 
146 miles from Puebla and a drop from there of 
5.324 feet and 1,767 feet above sea level. 

From this point we begin to climb, passing little 
plantations that look like oases in the breaks between 
the mountains, until we reach the summit at Las Sedas 
and an elevation of 6,304 feet. The scenery for the 
last 40 miles or from Tomellin to Las Sedas is grand, 
the train winding around curve after curve, follow- 
ing a little river between mountains of immense 
height on either side, huge cliffs overhang the cars 
and one wonders where an opening can be found to 
get out, for ahead the mountains seem to meet, and a 
hundred yards behind looks as if it were the start- 
ing point, so quickly are the curves and so abrupt the 
change. The steep mountain sides are bare and look 
as if some giant had blasted his way between them, so 
jagged and precipitous are the walls, and one im- 
agines the giant gets stuck once in a while and the 
result is tunnel. 

This ride, outside of the beautiful view of the 
valley below, beats the Maltrata, but I must not praise 
this piece of mountain grandeur too much, or I will 
have nothing left to say, should nature have something 
more startling to present. 

From Las Sedas we again go down hill and are 
soon passing through a country of flowers and farms 
that is pleasant to look upon. A beautiful flower 
grows here in great profusion. It is on a tree. Billie 



122 I'.i'J'S OF OLD MEXICO 

told US all about it for I forgot to say that Billie is a 
botanist also, but he claimed this fiower had no right 
to grow on a tree at all, but should confine itself to a 
bush. I hunted the name up and it is spelled bou- 
gainvillias. 1 think Billie would have it a longer 
name, but no matter what it is called, its colors of 
crimson and pink in such profusion made the front 
gardens and other places where it grew a very pleas- 
ant contrast to the forbidding though grand cliffs of 
the Tomellin canyon. 

The clouds began to gather as we approached 
Oaxaca and when we arrived at 6 :30 there was a thun- 
der storm. 

A hotel runner had boarded the train up the 
I'oad and we selected his hotel, because it was marked 
down for us to take and most of the other tourists did 
likewise, as they thought we knew. Among them a 
noble lord and his lady, and a gentleman of the life 
guards and wife (who. by the way. acted and talked 
like ordinary mortals). 

Our hotel runner spoke English, but put us in a 
carriage in the Mexican language, and whatever he 
said to the young man who drove must have impressed 
him with the idea that we were to be the first at the 
hotel, for he drove us through that thunder storm for 
a distance of half a mile at a most reckless speed. 

The driver of the noble lord must have had the 
same tip for at the distance of half a block from 
the hotel, we collided with them and came pretty 
near upsetting their apple cart. We arrived at the 
hotel at the same time; went to their carriage to see 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 123 

if the ladies were hurt, but they were right side up 
though somewhat shaken. We found that rooms were 
scarce, hence the race for first place. When we found 
out the condition of affairs, we insisted on rooms be- 
ing assigned to the ladies first, a courtesy they about 
as firmly refused, but it so developed that the choice 
was "Hobson's, " and everybody took what was given 
them. 

We were conducted through some halls and into 
a court or patio ; rooms were on all sides of this court, 
which was one-story high. The floors were stone or 
tile and the light either a candle or lamp. My room 
was large enough but the ventilation did not come up 
to the most modern ideas. There was a lack of win- 
dows, but the door was equipped with a ware netting, 
and so we made believe we were satisfied, as we were 
to start for the ruins of Mitla on the following morn- 
ing. 

After dinner we made arrangements for a car- 
riage for the trip and then looked over the town, 
which impressed us favorably, and we felt sure that on 
closer acquaintance we w^ould like it. Our thoughts 
and preparations, however, for the present were cen- 
tered in Mitla. 

The following morning found us on time at the 
little station on the outskirts of the city where the 
mule cars start for Tule; as at Puebla, there was an 
open car and a closed one and again surprise was 
shown when we took the open one in preference to 
the other. Fortunately the man who had hired the 
team to us was along, and by paying the fare of the 



rJ4 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

closed car and a little more we arranged to have our 
own way and rode as we preferred. This car ride 
was taken on ad\ice of the gentleman referred to, as 
we saved time and avoided a very rocky road and un- 
interesting stretch of country; our carriage having 
been dispatched earlier was to meet us at the village of 
Tule at which place we arrived after the mules had 
been praised and coaxed, abused and Avhipped. 

TULE TREE. 

Before proceeding on the trip proper, we were 
driven to the old church yard in wliich the famous 
Tule tree stands. To pass through the village and not 
see the tree, would be as bad as going to Mitla and not 
seeing the ruins. This tree stands in the church yard 
of Santa Maria del Tule, and from what is said of it. 
was full grown at the time of the conquest, and is even 
suggested that the builders of Mitla rested under 
its shade on their pilgrimage to that other buried city 
of Monte Alban, on the hill top about four miles from 
Oaxaca. Be this as it may, the tree itself is a whop- 
per. It is 154 feet around the trunk, six feet above 
the ground, and to illustrate its immense size the 
guide book assures you that if twenty-eight people 
stood in a circle and touched each other's finger tips 
they could barely meet around the tree. It looks more 
like an aggregration of trees growing together, 
though I suppose it is all one. It is not tall in pro- 
portion to its thickness; it separates into many trees 
or branches about eight feet above the ground. It is 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 125 

evergreen and the leaves hang down something like 
the weeping willow. 

That this tree has been celebrated for some time 
is evidenced by a wooden tablet on which is an in- 
scription, signed by Hnmboldt, the German traveller, 
and so long has this tablet been fastened on the tree 
that the bark has grown around it and covered from 
sight part of the inscription. 

Our carriage and four mules are at the gate ; the 
mules are dozing with one eye open. The driver 
has gone them one better and closed both, but the 
whole outfit wakes up on our approach. Dick, Billie 
and George get into the body of the carriage, which 
is one of those double-seated cloth covered arrange- 
ments with side flaps that can be rolled up or buttoned 
down as the weather or inclination demands. 

I climbed in front with the driver as it left more 
room inside and gave me an opportunity of showing 
him how little I knew about his native tongiie. 

A run of a few hundred yards, a turn to the left. 
and we are on the main road to Mitla. 

There is no scenery to speak of, a level valley for 
some miles and then the foot-hills, and soon we reach 
the top with another valley ahead. The road, so far, 
is fairly good, but we would have not taken much 
notice of it one way or the other — ^we were too much 
interested in what we saw on it. This was nomination 
day in Mexico, the day when the candidates for presi- 
dent and vice-president were to be named and to be 
named meant elected, and then there could be only one 
man named and that was Diaz, the greatest of Mexi- 



126 BITS OK OLD MEXICO 

cans, and whatt'ver else may be said, the one man who 
has made Mexico what it is today. Well, everyone we 
met on the road felt the same about it as we did, and 
they were all on their way to Oaxaca to ^ive vent to 
their feelings. 

Between Tule and Tlaeolula we met over one hun- 
dred caravans of pack mules, donkeys, ox teams and 
charcoal laden burros, men with loads, women with 
bundles, all headed for market, some to get rid of their 
load and others to accumulate one; here a man 
mounted and the family walking; there a colony of 
charcoal burners and twenty or thirty burros carry- 
ing two or four sacks each, trudging along — man and 
beast equally satisfied, or indifferent. A drove of pigs 
seemed to call for more energy than anything else we 
met on the Avhole journey. At one place we passed a 
wagon that had broken down : the wooden axle caused 
the trouble. It had been laden with sacks of corn 
and the driver had taken off the load, packed it on the 
roadside, tied his team to the fence and crawled into 
the wagon and was sound asleep. We passed through 
a drowsy village with a sleepy name, threw centavos 
to the little ones, as a reward for keeping awake, and 
on through the cactus-fenced lanes of the farmer to 
the more pretentious village or town of Tlacolula. 
where we rested our horses and regaled ourselves on 
whatever was obtainable. 

Though we were anxious to get to ^Ntitla we 
could not leave without a visit to the market and a 
look through the old church and school house, where 
a company of yoimg men .ire being educated. I think. 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 127 

for the priesthood. It is a college of some kind and the 
youths are bright and clean-cut. Our driver was wait- 
ing and ready when we returned and off we went on 
a gentle down hill grade, the scenery improving as 
we got closer to the mountain, passing boulders 
on the left, as if they had been dropped from the 
clouds. Still further on we passed a formation of 
absinain rock that seemed to be there without ex- 
cuse. Then down a pretty steep grade and through 
a stream. A run of a few hundred yards more and we 
pull up in front of the only hotel in the village of 
Mitla and conducted by one Don Felix Quero. We 
washed down the dust of the road; saw that we were 
assigned rooms ; and were ofP to the ruins. 

RUINS OP MITLA. 

The distance from the village is not great. Leav- 
ing the hotel Ave went around the corner to the left, 
as we were directed, through the narrow lanes past 
huts and a kind of a little make-believe .store, again 
to the left, through another lane and the bed of a 
creek, a little ahead and on the right, we got the first 
sight of the buildings and oare-taker and by the time 
we reached the spot where he was standing, we were 
in the ruins. 

We tried him in English but he did not enthuse 
over it. We tried him in Spanish and he enthused 
too much, at least, for us. but we got him to under- 
stand that we wanted to see as much as possible in 
English. The procession was formed and he led us 
from wonder to wonder in that wonderful place of 



128 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

desolate grandeur, thronsrh underground passages and 
courts, up massive stone steps to corridors of mosaics 
of Egyptian pattern, through openings over which 
lintels of great mass were in position, and as he led us 
from one to the other, his only utterance, when he 
stopped was, "see here." If it were underground 
and he used candles, he would point to some particu- 
laraly fine mosaic Avith the candle and "see here." 
We followed him without tiring though the Christian 
church on the hill, built on the foimdation of a part 
of the ruins; the church itself looking old enough to 
be included, to the place now believed to be the "sep- 
ulcher" of the kings, to the ()])ening in a hill to what 
may have been the catacombs. "We did not enter but 
satisfied ourselves that passages ran clear through it. 
The guide was painstaking and conscientious and 
though our Spanish was limited, we thoroughly en- 
joyed the visit, and conveyed to him our approval of 
his efforts in that universally understood language. 
Ilie silver token of appreciation. 

The time we spent was too brief to write a full 
detailed account of all we saw to make it intelligible, 
and as the ruins have been described and written 
about so much, I will take one of the many accounts 
and set it down here in a condensed form. 

The chronicler takes you as if he were the guide 
and says: "You now stand within the graven walls 
of a temple that may be older than Solomon's." 

I have called them temples, and temples they 
may have been, raised to the honor of the gods their 
builders worshiped, though there is little similarity 




HALL OF MONOLITHS, MITLA (pages 121-13J,) 



BITS OP OLD MEXICO 129 

to the teocalis found in the city of Tenochtitlan and 
the other cities of Anahuac on the plains of the North. 
These low walls differ radically in their construc- 
tion and decoration from the high pyramidal temples 
of the Toltecs, though the absence of arches in the 
temples of Mitla would indicate that the builders were 
of the same school, as the Toltecs had no arches in 
their architecture and for the most part avoided curves 
and circular decoration. 

If not a temple, then it may have been a fortress, 
a most impregnable one, and unless the instruments of 
war were more formidable than those of later genera- 
tions, or even those of the present day, the thick walls 
would have resisted the most persistent assault. The 
fortress idea further obtains from the fact that there 
are no windows or other openings in the walls, and the 
only entrances open into the inner square or plaza. 
For these reasons the fortress idea is in favor. But 
the people of the earlier ages did not need such for- 
midable works of defense. The palace of a king or a 
mighty chieftain may have been within these walls. 
The Hall of the Monoliths, a banquet hall, the cor- 
ridor of mosaics, a royal bed chamber, the central 
court might have been the throne room and audience 
hall, but I adhere to the first impressions and say. 
here was a great temple. This may have been one 
temple of two or four courts each. There are in each 
of the north and south groups four-walled courts 
facing about an open patio lying exactly at the four 
points of the compass, with their walls on lines true 
to the needle. Of the southern group only three of 



130 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

the courts have the walls standinfr. The east wall 
is in the best condition ; next the north, while the 
south is almost crumbled away, and the west is but a 
heap of stones. 

The heavy cap pieces of the entrance to the north 
court are supported in the center by a huge column of 
hewn stone. Under it leads a passage underground 
that may have extended to the other courts, as there 
is a subterranean gallery running the entire length of 
the court, east and west, with a short extension due 
north, under the east court of this group in another 
cruciform chamber. In the north group, the north 
court is in the finest state of preservation, and gives 
ample evidence of the magnificent handiwork of the 
men of a buried and forgotten race, whose civilization 
is attested by the intricate carvings here ; in the shap- 
ing of these stones, in the lifting of them from their 
quarries and setting them in their places, as with a 
mason's tact that all the earth's trembling have not 
shaken, nor the warring elements effaced their grav- 
ings. 

The north court is built on the same plan with 
the others; its walls are in a most complete state. 

The entrance of all the courts open into the open 
patio in the center, with no openings at all in the 
outer walls. There are no windows anywhere. 

In the north court and extending its entire length 
is a grand corridor, called the Hall of the Monoliths. 
Here are six massive columns, nearly seven feet in 
circumference and twelve feet high, ranging down the 
center of the hall. And under the wall a passage 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 131 

leads to a second larger room whose walls also face 
the compass points. This room is surrounded by four 
smaller ones; the one on the west side being in an 
almost complete state. The walls are laid in the most 
intricate mosaics of small pieces and the most beau- 
tiful and unique designs, fitted and put together with- 
out mortar or cement. In each one of the courts of 
all the groups are niches, square faced with heavy- 
stones set in the wall as if intended for the shrine of 
household gods. 

The ancient races of this land had no arches in 
their architecture, as is evidenced by everything that 
is left of their meagre history, and here, over their 
square-cut doorways, are magnificent monoliths, 
twelve to eighteen feet long, four to six feet in width, 
and three to five feet in thickness. The East court 
of the North group has only part of the front wall 
standing, and two columns which show that there were 
here also a hall with monolith columns; the massive 
lintel that was over the door has been thrown down. 

Down the hill towards the village, in the midst of 
some huts of cane, is a modern discovery, which the 
Indians call the "sepulcher, " long used as a corn 
bin. It is about eight feet long and six feet wide 
and below the level of the ground. The architecture 
and cutting of the stone is exactly the same as in 
the larger ruins on the hill. 

Looking to the south are the walls that extend 
to the banks of the Rio, to the westward is a pyramid 
of earth and stones crowned by an ancient but yet a 
more modern shrine; and across the Rio in the midst 



132 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

of the villajre some other pyramids of earth and stone 
and loosely put top:ether, yet withstanding the rav- 
ages of the elements. Leavinor the church, walk down 
the hill temples on the riorht. and after crossing the 
Rio come to the sepulcher and pyramids, passing 
through the village to the main road and turning to 
the right, yon are again at the hacienda or hotel. 

It is now after dinner at the hospitable hacienda 
of Don Felix Quero Village of Mitla. The meal was 
a good one, I suppose, but the dishes were passed in 
a mechanical sort of a way, and it might be called 
a meal of ruins — ruin soup and ruin dessert, and 
anti(|uary entrees between. The mosaics could be al- 
most be felt between the teeth when the frijoles were 
served, and over the coffee Billie and George got into 
a wrangling over the question of whether the ruins 
had been temple, fortress or palaces. The English in 
Billie wanting it to stand for palace and George's 
early education making him contend for the church. 
We finally got them to leave the question in abey- 
ance and let them be known as they are today — the 
ruins of Mitla. 

This was only agreed to when the irreverent 
Dick threatened to prove that what he had come so 
far to see was but the remains of an ancient distil- 
lery. I had done some heavy thinking on the sub- 
ject but could arrive at no definite conclusion as to 
the use of which the buildings had been put when 
they were first erected. They are certainly wonder- 
ful in a way, as they lie today in view of their sup- 
posed antiquity, but the queries of some writers about 



BITS OP OLD MEXICO VS'.i 

how it was possible for the builders to perform such 
tasks M'ithout the aid of modern machinery is not 
giving the builders much credit on that score. The 
mere handling of the material, such as placing the 
lintels and the monoliths, is as nothing compared to 
the task of assembling the material, and the artistic 
ability displayed in executing the design. The quar- 
rying, transporting and fixing in place of either the 
Aztec calendar stone or the sacrificial stone presents 
something of a difficult3% but the raising of the mono- 
liths and the lintels at Mitla are tasks that could be 
accomplished at the present day without the aid of 
machinery, so-called. 

Mitla ruins are M'^onderful, as all ruins of the 
ancients are, for the reason that we cannot bring 
ourselves to credit the people who have lived in the 
remote past, with being anything but savages, but the 
mechanic of the past, I take it, was a great deal like 
the mechanic of the present, good, bad and indifferent. 

The hand then, as now, learned the cunning of the 
craft in a few years and as the history of the human 
family, so far as we know has run in eras, so certain 
races or tribes have left their mark on the world's 
intellectual and physical progress, and it is reasonable 
to assume that the ruins we have discovered and are 
discovering today are the results of a building age, 
the necessity or conditional warrant for which has 
ceased to exist. 

In our present day how many know the arts of a 
few years ago, and how many in the near future will 
be able to perform any of the many things which to- 



134 BITS OP OLD MEXICO 

day are looked upon as commonplace, simply because 
of the change in conditions, for instance, writing as 
it is practiced at the present time will soon become a 
thing of the past, through the typewriting machine and 
voice recording devices, and thousands of years from 
now the world will be pondering over the mysteries 
of our strange hieroglyphics, or mechanical accom- 
plishments, and marveling at the strange civilization 
that could produce such an undesirable condition of 
affairs in habitation, occupation and government. 

After visiting Mitla and Palonque and wonder- 
ing at what must have been the conditions of the 
country and who its people when the ruins were first 
erected, I Avill pass the solution of the question to 
those who may come after us, for those who have pre- 
ceded have not given the answer. 

That the ruins are different in character if not in 
age, I am satisfied. Those of Palenque would appeal 
to me as the effort of a hardy warlike people, and 
Mitla the product of a more refined and artistic race. 

Mexico has a long story to tell some day in its 
ruins, and it is strange that the day should have been 
put off even so far as this. 

The village of Mitla is not much in itself. The 
best thing about it is old Felix and his hotel. The 
inner court is pretty with flowers and birds, and the 
covered porch or corridor surrounding it gives one 
an opportunity of keeping in the shade, which is some- 
thing to be grateful for. The bedrooms are fronting 
on one side of this patio and are comfortable. The 
meals are passing good und the desire to please un- 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 135 

bounding, so it was with kindly feelings we took our 
leave of the cactus fenced village, and Don Felix, 
who in a few short years will become a pleasant mem- 
ory in the story of Mitla. 

OAXAGA. 

We retraced our Avay to Oaxaca with pleasant 
anticipation, as the city had a very inviting appear- 
ance. 

The hotel at which we put up had received ad- 
ditional guests since we left and was full, but it turn- 
ed out a blessing as we were directed by the carriage 
owner to another, which proved in every way super- 
ior and was conducted by an old resident of San 
Francisco. We were made very comfortable and 
through his kindness were placed in the way of many 
pleasures and privileges that otherwise we would not 
have enjoyed. 

Oaxaca is a city that is enjoyable from almost 
any point of view. Its people are pleasant, and its 
buildings attractive. Its history stirring and roman- 
tic. It had been heard of before the conquest, but 
it was when Cortez had selected Coatzacoalcos as a 
safe place for shipping, and dispatched Valasquez du 
Leon and a hundred and fifty men to form a colony at 
that place, that Oaxaca first got on the map. 

Their route overland led them southwest through 
the canyons and the valley of Oaxaca and the land be- 
ing reported good, Cortez obtained a large tract and 
laid out plantations for the crown. 

The estate prospered and many small towns and 



IMti BITS OF 0\jy MEXICO 

villages soon dotted the valley. iMitla became a pros- 
perous town and Oaxaca its rival. 

After a visit to Spain Cortez returned vi'ith the 
title of Iklarquis of the Valley of Oaxaca and both 
mar(iuis and towu assumed greater importance hence- 
forward. 

The marquis brought back some nice new clothes 
from Spain and Oaxaca proceeded to build a cathedral. 

Originally the name of Oaxaca was Huaxyacac 
and in the native language meant "in the nose of the 
guajes" — the guajes is a fruit tree in the valley valu- 
able both for its fruit and its wood. This was way 
back in 1486, but when the Spaniard came he couldn't 
get his tongue around the pronunciation and for a time 
named it Antequera, because it reminded some one 
of his native towns in Spain, but on the 25th day of 
April, 1532, Charles the V, by decree created it a city 
and Pope Paul III, established the Bishopric of Oax- 
aca June 21st, 1535. 

During the next two hundred years it didn't 
bother much about outside affairs, contenting itself 
with selling cochineal and building churches. 

The Cathedral was founded in 1553, though active 
work was not begun on the building until 1610 and 
when completed cost $2,000,000. 

The church of Santo Domingo is considered the 
best in the city and has the proud distinction of hav- 
ing cost mor(^ money tlian any other church on the 
(M)ntinent. 

The life-size figures of the saints are in relief 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 137 

and covered with gold and the gold on the walls was 
so plentiful that the soldiers quartered in an old con- 
vent close by, helped themselves so freely that they 
didn't seem to care when pay day came around, but 
when the church was remodeled by Bishop Gillow, it 
stopped paying the soldiers involuntary dividends, 
and they had to fight for a living. 

The church as it now stands cost $13,000,000. 

There are other churches in the city, it is needless 
to add, but the government and other buildings are 
waiting for a chance, so we will let the churches at- 
tend to their own affairs for the time being. 

The state palace fronting on the main plaza is 
about the best building in Oaxaca. It runs the full 
length of the square, has a large court inside with 
ofi&ces and quarters for the military. It was built in 
1883-5. 

Among other public buildings are the municipal 
palace, built in 1873 ; palace of justice, 1872 ; scientific 
institute, 1830 ; hospital general, 1865, and state 
library, 1880. 

Then comes the market, a block from the plaza 
and containing all the varied products of the tropics. 
In the midst of this market is a large ornamental 
fountain of cast iron and stone. It is a circular affair 
about thirty feet in circumference; the outer casting 
about one inch thick and three feet high, in the center 
is a fountain and between that and the outer casting, 
a stone floor on the ground level. The water flows 
rather slowly and does not overflow until it rises about 
two feet. The people generally get their water from 



V'iS BIT.S OF OLD MEXICO 

tliis or similar fountains at different parts of the city, 
and it is amusing to see ten or twenty persons of all 
ages, with a square tin can and a string fastened to 
one side of it, stand around the outside and throw 
them down on the stone floor inside, and as the water 
rises drag the can along the bottom and whatever 
water they collect, pour into an earthen jar. It takes 
a long time to fill their water bottle, and there they 
sit discussing the latest fashions in sandals and other 
tropical adornment. This is what I called fishing for 
water and it comes as near it as anything I ever saw. 

In this market in addition to fruit and flowers, 
vegetables and meat, you can buy clothing and finery 
of all kinds, and for one dollar Mexican you can be- 
come the possessor of a pair of sandals made while 
you wait, or you can buy a new sombrero for thirty 
dollars and instead of having it sent home, place it on 
top of your old one so that everybody may know you 
have money. 

Oaxaea unlike most of the Mexican towns has 
some business streets other than those boimding the 
main plaza, or plazas, for there are two in the center 
of the town. The larger of the two, is called the 
Plaza de Armas, having immense shade trees, a pro- 
fusion of flowers and fruit trees on which were grow- 
ing something like grape fruit. In the center is a 
monument to Juarez, who Avas a native of Oaxaea. 

The smaller square is called the Plaza de Leon. 
The two join at the northeast corner on which is 
located the Cathedral. 

The streets are not all that could be desired, and 



BITS OP OLD MEXICO 139 

the sanitary conditions have not reached that state oi; 
perfection, that could be hoped for, but they are busy 
and in the course of a few years the open gutter in the 
center of the street Avill be a thing of the past. 

The buildings both public and private are com- 
mendable, and the population in the main prosperous 
looking and happy. I mean the last remark to apply 
to the business people. The others look satisfied in a 
barefooted sort of a way. 

The city did not always have a population of forty 
thousand souls, and this has no reference to the bare 
feet either, but the number of actual individual resi- 
dents. 

We learn that in 1560 it could only boast of five 
hundred all told, in 1790 it had multiplied to fourteen 
thousand. Sixteen years later an illustrious son of 
Mexico, Benito Juarez was born in one of its small 
streets, and when he was but six years old, the town 
was called upon to defend itself against an invading 
army in the war of independence. 

On the 24th of November, 1812 Moreles arrived in 
front of the city and demanded its surrender in three 
hours. 

The people had remained loyal to the Spanish, 
but put up a weak defense. 

Moreles captured the city inside of two hours 
after the fighting began. It was retaken by the Roy- 
alists two years later, and back and forth a number of 
times, when the warring factions were not busy else- 
where, until the war was over. 

The greatest event in the history of the city of 



J 40 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

Oaxaea. however, occured on the 15th of September, 
1830, when "tlie man oi Mexico" Porlirio Diaz, her 
most illustrious son was born in La Callede Soledad 
number ten. 

Diaz studied law under Juarez but their battles 
i'or the most part, though perhaps legal were in the 
Held. They fought together for a common cause, and 
it is hard to say which of the two names is most dear 
to the hearts of the people today. 

The house where Diaz was bom had been torn 
down and a school erected on the site, but the room 
in which that important event took place is still pre- 
served in the building. 

Another house with a history is pointed out in 
which Juarez wrote the Mexican constitution, and the 
city, in 1872, changed its official name to that of Oax- 
aea de Juarez in his honor. 

Our two days' visit was all too short but we were 
anxious to be on the way, and after an all day ride 
found ourselves again in Puebla, remaining over night 
and at six the following morning started on our re- 
turn to the City of Mexico. 

We arrived on time at seven p. m. and at our 
hotel received mail and papers from San Francisco; 
devoted the following day to assembling our traps and 
getting ready to visit the .show city of iVIexico, Guad- 
alajara. 

George found that he was needed in San Francis- 
co on business so he devoted the last day to visiting as 
many of the churches as possible, and Billie accom- 
panied him to one or two on account of some dispute 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 141 

concerning the height of an altar or the number of 
shrines, I don't remember which, but whatever it was 
Billie promised George that he would demonstrate the 
error of his contention when we again met in our 
home city. 

GUADALAJARA. 

At seven p. m. we took train for Guadalajara, 
arriving at Irapuato about three p. m., changed cars 
and at nine in the morning were in the .station of 
Mexico's show town. 

We engaged a cargador and told him to get 
more help and bring our traps to the hotel. We waited 
around to see that he was attending to our wants 
and what was our surprise, when he passed out of the 
station with every piece of baggage belonging to us 
strapped together and all on his back. We followed 
but he was at the hotel before us. 

I asked the proprietor how much we ought to pay 
and after looking at the number of pieces told us we 
ought to give him fifty cents, and when we gave him 
a dollar the cargador was the most thankful fellow 
in seventeen counties. What a change from Vera 
Cruz. There it was ten, and here was one doing prac- 
tically the same amount of work. 

The first impression of the town received through 
the caragador, was good and I am pleased to say 
that on no occasion did we have to change it after. 
The hotel was good and the proprietor knew his bus- 
iness and soon put us in the way of seeing things, and 
in the course of a couple of hours we had taken in the 



142 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

principal places of attraction and were on our way to 
San Pedro, one of the suburbs. 

We had two objects in this side trip, one was to 
see the pottery works, the other to visit the Indian 
sculptor, Juan Panduro, of whose work we had heard. 

The village is reached by electric street cars and 
the run over what is known as the Calzada de San 
Pedro is interesting. The road is shaded by trees, 
and the end is reached before one has really settled 
down to enjoy it. 

The wealthier class, it seems, make their summer 
residence there and that accounts for the good houses 
we had noticed. 

We took a general look over the place, which 
takes but a short time, a hurried look over some of th*' 
products of the pottery, and then had about half a 
dozen children show us the place of the sculptor. He 
was home and after a few. a very few words of con- 
versation of a general character. I arranged for him 
to make me in clay. He seated me in a chair and 
walked around once or twice and looked at me verj' 
closely, meanwhile making half audible remarks, and 
I took it that he was informing himself of the hard 
job ahead of him. He retired to another room and 
returned with a lump of black clay, and standing be- 
fore me made some further remarks, gave the clay a 
few turns, pulled out a piece of it that was to repre- 
sent my nose, jammed the sides in where my cheeks 
were to be, pulled down a chunk that was to be my 
chin, took a little wooden paddle and swatted the cb.v 
on top where my hair would soon be, then he gouged 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 143 

out a couple of pieces where my eyes were to be, 
scraped a little from the back of the neck and stuck it 
on either side for ears, grabbed another piece and 
stuck it on below the head, and gave a grunt of satis- 
faction. The actual work then began. He now put 
on his spectacles and gave me a couple of looks, fixed 
my mouth on straight and proceeded with his little 
wooden instrument to pick and scrape, pat and rub 
here and there, moving around from one side to the 
other, and changing my position once in a while. 
This continued for about two hours and a half, and I 
inquired if I was finished. He informed me that I 
was not half made, and hardly knew how to take 
his meaning, but when he showed me the clay I could 
see he did not intend to be insulting. I was tired sit- 
ting, however, and we agreed that he should come to 
the hotel in Guadalajara and finish me, which he 
did. Dick and Billie looked on quite a portion of the 
time and when it was completed pronounced it a 
splendid work considering the subject. It really was 
perfect, so far as the modeler's work was concerned, 
and for all his effort he only charged fifteen dollars 
Mexican, 

Juan Panduro is a wonder in that he is the only 
Indian who has gained a reputation as a modeler. 
He is now over sixty and has a large family. One of 
his sons followed in his profession, but has never 
made a name for himself. The old artist will soon be 
gone, and I am pleased to be in possession of a sample 
of his handicraft. 

The home of Panduro is much like that of his 



144 BITS OP OLD MEXICO 

neiglibors. It is of adobe, his studio in the front. In 
the rear is a patio and his family rooms. He is ap- 
parently a lover of flowers, for he has many growing, 
and the little ones, po.ssibly his grandchildren, like 
to pluck them and present them to visitors. San 
Pedro outside of the clay industry is not much, but 
with the pottery modelling cups and saucers and old 
man Panduro modelling "mugs," the place has quite 
a reputation. 

Guadalajara has a population of 150.000 and is 
said to be the cleanest, brightest and most delightful 
city in the country. It was founded in 1541 after two 
former sites had been abandoned. It is located in the 
midst of a plain that rises on three sides in terraces 
toward the mountains. The west leads to the Tierra 
Caliente, where, as the guide book informs you. the 
mountains seem to cease and the plain and sky come 
together. It is famous for its clean streets, its beau- 
tiful parks and plazas, churches old and rich in archi- 
tecture and decoration, and boasts of the finest theatre, 
the DegoUado. and claims for it the distinction of being 
the largest on the continent, excepting the Metropoli- 
tan in New York or the Auditorium in Chicago. It 
was opened in 1866, and has five tiers of seats, stalls 
and boxes, and the decorations are certainly good 

The streets run at right angles, intersecting the 
parks and plazas, some twenty in number. There are 
fourteen portales that cover the sidewalks for blocks. 
There are bridges without number and churches 
galore. The public buildings, outside the theatre and 
Cathedral, are the governor's palace, the mint, the 



Iv*%„ 




Si 




RUINU OF MITLA (pages 121-lJJ,) 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 145 

state eapitol of Jalisco, the hospicio and the peniten 
tiary. The paso is a boulevard on both sides of the 
Rio San Juan de Dios. 

The business streets resemble those of the United 
States more than any other Mexican town, and the 
stores are good. The general characteristic of the 
architecture is Mexican. That the inhabitants may not 
go unwashed, it has twenty-five bath places, and for 
dining and sleeping purposes it has twenty-eight 
hotels. 

It would take as long a time to describe the city 
properly as we remained in it, and so I will just 
mention a few of the institutions or buildings in which 
they take most pride. 

The Cathedral comes first. The original one was 
built in 1548 and was a thatched hut. The present 
one was commenced in 1561 and completed in 1618. 
The towers were thrown down by an earthquake in 
1818 and the clock towers were badly injured at the 
same time, but are all right again. The towers, as they 
now stand, are not Mexican, but spires or steeples. 
In one of these is a little bell that was rung only on 
important occasions. Another which in former times 
M^as rung in thunder storms to ward the lightning off. 

The interior is rich in decorations and has many 
valuable paintings, one especially noteworthy. 

The Assumption by Murillo, for which the church 
was offered $75,000 gold. 

One of the institutions that Guadalajara is justly 
proud of is the hospicio. It is of light colored stone 
and one story high, but covers a whole block. It con- 



146 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

tains twenty-three courts with fountains and flowers. 
It is manatred under state authority and admits chil- 
dren and old people of botli sexes, the sick from the 
penitentiary and the sick of the city. The children 
as they grow up are taught trades or some Avay of 
making a living. The girls do lace work and em- 
broidering, which is sold to help run the institution. 
It has 800 beds and was built in 1791. 

We visited one of the bathing establishments in 
the same building as our hotel. Whether it was a 
part of it or not. I don't know but the manager show- 
ed us through, and I must say anything more complete 
for the purpose could hardly be imagined. There were 
baths of all kinds from the Turkish to the plunge 
and everything in perfect order. 

The street car service was good with overhead 

trolley, and good sized American built cars, and taking 

it all in all, after seeing the other Mexican cities, we 

were delighted with Guadalajara and its attractions. 

AGUAS CALIENTES. 

Started next morning at 8 :55 on our way for 
home, changed cars at Irapuato at 4:10 p. m. and 
arrived at the hot water town at 10:30 that night. 
We were met at the depot by some hotel runners and 
as there was but one hotel that amounted to much, 
we were taken in charge and bundled up town, a dis- 
tance of about half a mile. We were tired, and the 
town was asleep, so we proceeded to get in the same 
condition as soon as possible. 

Next morning we were up early and on our tour 



BITS OP OLD MEXICO 147 

of inspection, and when we left were satisfied Mnth the 
results of our visit. 

The town was founded October 22nd, 1575, and 
has at the present time a population of some 38,000. 
About 30,000 of them arc directly or indirectly inter- 
ested in drawn work, for which the town is famous. 
How this place came to be a center for linen work 
I have not learned, for they do not manufacture it, 
but the amount that is sold of this beautiful work in 
the city, and the still greater amount shipped out of 
it, is wonderful. All that is sold in the town for 
drawn work is not made there, but by machinery 
elsewhere, and if you care to watch the native at the 
station selling to the passengers as the train stops for 
a feM^ minutes, you can learn some of the tricks of the 
trade. 

The venders are not allowed on the platform, but 
stand in a row alongside a low platform fence. The 
passengers walk along the platform and examine the 
work. A beautiful piece of really good work is held 
out in front of a number of other pieces. The cus- 
tomer examines it and inquires the price. The pur- 
chaser knows that about twice the worth of the ar- 
ticle is going to be asked, and thereupon offers less 
than half. The vender knows just as well that only 
one-half of what is asked is going to be offered so 
there you are, but here is what very often happens. 
After the price is offered by the would-be buyer, the 
man with the goods talks quite a little showing its 
beauty, and from a number of other pieces substitu- 
tes one looking almost like the piece under considera- 



148 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

tion, and after some more bargaiuiug, ends by letting 
it go for what he can get for it. The passenger hurries 
to catch the train and when Mrs. Jones is showing 
Mi-s. Brown her lovely purchase and how cheap she 
got it, she will have a machine made thing of beauty 
and will come to the conclusion that the peddler was 
not such a fool as he looked. This only goes to prove 
that the work is worth imitating, for from what I can 
learn some of the most beautiful work of this kind is 
made in Calientas. There are schools and convents in 
the town, devoted to teaching the art, and in these 
and some reputable stores and semi-public families, 
one may freely purchase, knowing that what they buy 
is what it is represented to be. 

I was first informed of all the above, and verified 
it afterwards. 

The hot springs that gave the city its name, are 
located across the railway track. A street car runs 
to the entrance. At the office you arrange about the 
temperature of bath you desire and you are led up 
a little incline and around the corner where you are 
shown your number, you step inside and lock the door, 
and find yourself in a fair sized room, in which is a 
lounge. At the far end is a square bath about five 
feet by eight, lined with tile on the sides and bottom. 
The water is reached by a few steps and is about knee 
deep or more. It remains that way as the overflow is 
regulated, and the amount of water flowing in keeps 
it at the same temperature all the time. You are sup- 
plied with towels and a piece of soap and a little 
loose hemp to wrap it in and .srub with if you so de- 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 149 

sire. The water is supposed to have curative ({ualities, 
and whatever is the matter with you, that's what it is 
good for. 

After bathing you wrap yourself up in the bath- 
robe and rest on the lounge, or dress as you elect, 
but in any case the baths are good and refreshing. 

The water of all degrees of heat that flow from 
the springs, whether used for bathing or not, finds its 
way into a ditch, and flows to the town. Close to the 
railway track two bath houses are erected, one on 
either side of the road and the men take their tub or 
plunge in one place and the women in the other, free 
of charge. They used to bathe in the open and do 
their washing at the same time, but a wash place back 
of the bath houses affords more seclusion if they wish 
to wash and wait for the drying. 

The city itself is best seen by walking from the 
depot about half a mile up a street of one-story build- 
ings, with occasional two story business houses or 
hotels on the corner. You then arrive at the 
main square. On the left is the governor's palace, 
state house and casa municipal or city hall. They are 
old-looking, but in good repair. The portales present 
quite a pretty picture with clothing of all descriptions 
hung up or piled up for sale. 

The plaza is large and has many trees and flowers. 
In its center is a tall monument, that used to have a 
statue of Ferdinand VII, but in one of their three-for- 
a-quarter wars Ferde was upset and they never mus- 
tered sufficient energy to set him up again, so they just 



150 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

use the monument for putting tablets on, telling of 
past events that they don't want to forget. 

The market is very good and presents a busy 
appearance, and the overflow tradespeople sit on the 
sidewalk and sell all sorts of staples from live chickens 
to corn, wherewith to feed them. 

The churches are well represented, but I did not 
find a single one in all the town that laid claim to one 
of the most important in Mexico, still they swell up 
with pride when they point to the parish church with 
its paintings by Andreas Lopez in 1797, and the Ador- 
ation of the Magi by Jose de Alzibar in 1775, and the 
church of the Encino boasts the best paintings of the 
Stations of the Cross in Mexico, so that is going some. 

We remained two days and acquired a knowledge 
of its history and about two hundred dollars worth of 
drawn work. 

Oh, there is one thing in Aguas Calientas that is 
claimed to be the best in Mexico and that is its cats. 
The hotel where we stayed is conducted by a lady 
and she leads a dogs life watching her feline pets. 
They are Angoras and for one particular cat she has 
been offered, and refused, three thousand dollars in 
gold. If she refuses that for one cat's life what must 
she ask for the other eight. But the above are facts. 
She has her cats insured and they have taken first 
prize wherever they have competed, and as she said 
herself, while she is doing such a business as that 
there is no fear of her going to the dogs, still I am 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 151 

inclined to the belief that what she charges her guests 
helps to buy some cat meat also. 

Aguas Calientes iti the more practical affairs of life 
is noted for its woolen mills, and one of the lar- 
gest smelting plants in the country. The Mexican 
Central has its workshops here, employing a large 
force of men, so that needles and hot water are not 
the only source of revenue. The climatic and sanitary 
conditions of the place caused the railway people to 
erect their general hospital near the station at a cost 
of some $200,000. 

Had we remained a few days longer we would 
have been in the midst of the fiesta de San Marcos for 
which the town was preparing, but two days' time was 
all we could spare and so at 7 a. m. the second day of 
our visit we took the train and settled down to enjoy 
the scenery on our homeward trip. 

A run of about three hours and we are at Zac- 
atecas, after struggling up hill for the last hour of 
the trip, but the climbing and zig-zagging around 
was worth the while for the approach is one of the 
sights that will linger in memory. The town itself 
is in a gulch and can be seen and lost many times 
before arriving at the station. Attention is called to 
it by the guide book as being away up an immense 
gulch and where the flat top houses, the domes and 
towers seem to have slidden down from both the hills 
till it is filled half way up on the other side, and 
straggling out the mouth of it down to the plain where 
Guadalupe is. The place itself is about the last on 
earth a person would expect to find a town. The 



152 BITS OP OLD MEXICO 

country around about it is not a thing of beaut.v, 
being desert or mountain and one would imagine the 
thing impossible at first glance, but there it is and 
after getting a few glimpses of it here and there as we 
approach, the Ix-nuty of it all becomes more and more 
impressed on the mind and we tried to keep it in view 
every moment of the journey upward. 

When the train stops at the station the best view 
is gone and only in the distance can be seen a por- 
tion of what is perhaps the greatest mining center in 
all Mexico. Close to the station and scattering around 
are little adobe places mostly walls and apparently 
deserted. A little level country and then the rising 
ground for a mile or so and back and beyond are the 
mountains. 

The town has been the scene of mining since 
iri4fi and statistics 'j-ive its ontpnt since that time at 
$700,000,000 and even now its annual yield in silver 
is about $3,000,000. Tt has a population of 50.000 
and seems to be a little world all to itself, and its 
elevation of 8.000 feet is about as high as we reached 
in any of the cities of Mexico. 

The natives were around the platform with bas- 
kets and curios, and you have come to the conclusion 
that you would like your baggage set down and spend 
a few days, when away j'ou go do-vvn and around 
through soil almost blood red and cactus like gar- 
dens. Gradually the mountains fade away and cactus 
seems to take possession of the whole earth. 

"We passed through much uninteresting country 
and finally useful vegetation began to show, and the 







V. I Vi 



J 






BITS OP OLD MEXICO 153 

possibility of raisingf a sheep or cow becomes encour- 
aging, and the nearer we got to Torreon the more 
promising became the land, the territory surround- 
ing this and Gomez Palacio is said to be the center 
of the cotton industry. 

Gomez Palacio is about three miles nearer home, 
and where they manufacture soap, I think largely 
for export. Here also are oil and cotton mills. Pop- 
ulation about 8,000. We lost the daylight and the 
scenery at the last named station. 

When we awoke Hhe next morning we were get- 
ting close to Chihuahua, which we get a glimpse of as 
the train passes between the station and the shops. 
The town itself is not close to the track, but there are 
houses and people enough around to give one that 
impression. 

Chiluahua is the capital of that state and has a 
population of some 40,000 and is noted among other 
things for the large number of small dogs it raises. 
It has for years been the chief distributing point for 
northern Mexico and on that account alone is becom- 
ing largely Americanized. The twenty minutes we 
stopped did not give us a chance to get acquainted with 
the people to any large extent, nor even to buy a dog, 
although they were in evidence. The conductor in- 
formed us that the breed was local, but the price and 
fame national, and that each dog was guaranteed to 
take a bite out of the leg of a hobo as large as itself. 
We weren't bit because we didn't buy. 

The country north to Juarez has a great future 



154 BITS OP OLD MEXICO 

for stock raising, so some one told us. but the mining 
industry is in the lead up to the present. 

The native, as we found him after leaving Chi- 
huahua, is not a thing of beauty as compared with the 
southern product and the nearer the approach to 
Juarez the more desirous we were of crossing the 
bridge and again tread the streets of El Paso and hear 
some one ask us "what are you going to have." 

We were met down the road by the custom offi- 
cers, and our hand baggage inspected and in a short 
time after our arrival had our other effects looked 
over at the custom house, and were given a clean bill 
of health as it were. 

All that we purchased in Mexico had been declar- 
ed and we found no trouble. We had purchased 
pretty close to the limit, but were willing to pay duty 
if necessary, and I am of the opinion that by putting 
all your purchases where they can be seen quickly, 
without attempting to hide anything, you get better 
results and quicker freedom. 

It was about five o'clock when we changed cars 
at Juarez for El Paso, crossed the bridge and were 
again in the United States and once more found an 
American hotel and the English language. 

With our arrival at El Paso, the trip to Mexico 
ends. We traveled from Juarez in Chihuahua to 
Palenque in Chiapas, or from the most northern state 
to the most southern and practically through the cen- 
ter of the country. We have seen its mountains and 
its valleys, its deserts and its forest, its lakes and 
rivers, land so poor that it refused to nourish even the 



BITS OF OLD MEXICO 155 

pulque plant and land that blooms like a garden of 
Eden. We have seen its people ignorant and poor and 
its people refined and wealthy. Its customs good, bad 
and indifferent. We have been through a country 
that is adapted for the race that inhabit it, and the 
foreigner with capital. A country whose past is a 
mystery, its present a revelation, and its future a 
wonderful possibility. 

We have made observations of their industrial 
system, and the so-called peonage that we had heard 
so much of, and found much untruth and painful ex- 
aggeration concerning it. We have read and heard 
of the brutal treatment of the contract laborer on the 
plantation and from our personal observations we are 
pleased to state that these abuses exist largely in the 
imagination of some romancers. 

A laborer on a plantation will hire himself for a 
given period or by the day. If for a stated time and 
compensation he is bound by that contract only when 
he has been paid a certain sum in advance. This 
sum he will spend to provide for his family or hide it 
away before he begins work for he looks upon the ad- 
vance money as a kind of a bargain closing, and con- 
siders himself so many days labor indebted to his 
employer, and cannot quit until he has liquidated his 
indebtedness. Indeed if he should attempt to do so 
he can be arrested and brought before the Jefe Poli- 
tico, who will see to it that the agreement is fulfilled. 

In the interior when a planter requires more help, 
I have known of them sending their superintendent or 
native overseer to fiestas, where the laborers may be 



156 BITS OF OLD MEXICO 

celebrating, engage as many as is desired or as many 
as can be had, and should it happen that they are 
pmployed b}' another and in debt, they must procure 
the necessary amount from the new employer and pay 
that debt before they can leave their present position. 

The remuneration for labor in Mexico is small, 
but the wants are few and when the laborer feels the 
necessity of the white man's wants, both labor and its 
products will command a better price. 

The government of tbe country has been criti- 
cised by writers, but I believe that the present condi- 
tion of affairs reflects great credit on its law makers. 

The personal safety of the traveling public is as 
great as that of any other country that I know of, and 
property rights as firmly established as they are in the 
United States. 

This satisfactory condition of affairs has been 
brought about largely and maintained by that great- 
est of all Mexicans, President Porfirio Diaz and to him 
and his country we are indebted for a delightful two 
months' outing, the mosquitos notwithstanding. 




JAH If, 1S4P 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



